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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. date — the fruit
  3. last — final
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. court — for sport
  6. rush — hurry
  7. clip — for paper
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. court — of a king
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. clip — to cut
  13. race — the arms race
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — humankind
  19. last — to go on
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. clip — a video
  22. last — finally
  23. court — of law
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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