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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. lash — to lash out
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. race — a contest
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. pass — a permit
  7. race — humankind
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. hand — help
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. field — a subject
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. fork — to eat with
  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