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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. roll — a cake
  3. drill — the tool
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. pit — in a race
  6. face — to confront
  7. fall — the season
  8. spell — letters
  9. face — part of the head
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. drill — army training
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — magic
  14. fall — to drop
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. fall — to drop
  18. prune — to trim
  19. face — to point toward
  20. pit — a hole
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. drill — a practice
  24. roll — a list

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