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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 120 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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. last — final
  3. hand — help
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. last — finally
  7. snap — to click
  8. file — a document
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. last — to go on
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. file — a line of people
  14. craft — boats
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. file — a tool
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. craft — a skill
  19. hand — in cards
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — humankind

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