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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — army training
  4. drill — a practice
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. last — finally
  8. race — the arms race
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wind — moving air
  11. race — humankind
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. race — a contest
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. date — the fruit
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. kid — child
  24. lash — to lash out

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