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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. squash — to crush
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. chest — a box
  11. squash — the sport
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chest — of your body
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. court — of law
  17. rush — hurry
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. lash — an eyelash

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