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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. drill — the tool
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. last — final
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. game — wild animals
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — in cards
  12. roll — a cake
  13. last — to go on
  14. roll — a list
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. lean — thin
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. last — finally
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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