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

Word bank: ball · row · chest · race · mug · lash · snap · kid

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. race — the arms race
  5. snap — to click
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. kid — to tease
  8. ball — a great time
  9. race — humankind
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. row — to paddle
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. kid — child
  14. chest — of your body
  15. ball — a dance
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. chest — of your body
  18. race — a contest
  19. chest — a box
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mug — a cup
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. row — a line

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