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

Word bank: bowl · lash · band · racket · kid · tear

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. band — a music group
  7. tear — to rip
  8. kid — to tease
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. bowl — a football final

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