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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. hand — in cards
  3. ball — a great time
  4. suit — in cards
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. suit — to fit
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. hand — help
  12. ball — a dance
  13. suit — clothes
  14. race — humankind
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. scale — size or range
  19. race — the arms race
  20. scale — in music
  21. race — a contest
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. date — the fruit

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