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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. land — to come down
  3. spell — a short time
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. squash — the sport
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. spell — magic
  11. band — a ring
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — for digging
  16. land — a country
  17. band — a music group
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spell — letters
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. squash — to crush
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com