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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. race — the arms race
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. race — a contest
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mug — a face
  14. chip — for betting
  15. race — humankind
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. chip — to eat
  18. mug — to rob
  19. date — the fruit
  20. mug — a cup
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. wind — moving air
  24. nail — for a hammer

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