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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. row — a line
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. bat — the animal
  7. row — to paddle
  8. band — a ring
  9. squash — to crush
  10. saw — the tool
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. staff — employees
  13. staff — a stick
  14. squash — the sport
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. march — the month
  20. saw — the tool
  21. band — a music group
  22. march — music
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. march — the month

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