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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. game — a match
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. drill — the tool
  5. game — wild animals
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. last — final
  8. last — to go on
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. object — to protest
  13. object — an aim
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. object — a thing
  17. rush — hurry
  18. last — finally
  19. drill — a practice
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. drill — army training

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