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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. land — ground
  3. bore — to drill
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. track — a song
  6. present — a gift
  7. spell — a short time
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. track — to keep track
  10. land — a country
  11. snap — to click
  12. file — a tool
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. spell — magic
  15. track — a path
  16. land — to come down
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bore — to tire
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — there
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. file — a document
  24. spell — letters

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