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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 116 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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. cell — in biology
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. drill — a practice
  9. kid — child
  10. chip — to eat
  11. last — finally
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. last — final
  14. drill — the tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. last — to go on
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. cell — a phone
  21. kid — to tease
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chip — in a computer

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