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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. last — finally
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. hand — help
  6. rule — government
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. pop — to visit
  12. lean — to bend
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. rule — a law
  15. pop — soda
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. lean — thin
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. hand — in cards
  22. last — to go on
  23. pop — music
  24. fork — in a road

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