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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. swing — music
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. row — a line
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bat — the animal
  14. row — to paddle
  15. last — to go on
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. swing — in golf
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. wake — a trail
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. track — a song
  23. track — a path
  24. track — to keep track

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