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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rock — music
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bat — the animal
  6. ground — the earth
  7. last — to go on
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. last — final
  10. hand — in cards
  11. saw — the tool
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. ground — a position
  14. pop — soda
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — to visit
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. last — finally
  19. rock — a stone
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. hand — help
  23. ground — crushed
  24. bat — in an idiom

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