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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · lash · bowl · fan · wind · bound

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wind — moving air
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bound — tied together
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bound — certain
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. bat — for baseball

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