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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: roll · nail · lash · bark · mine · race · drill · bat

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. drill — a practice
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. roll — a list
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. roll — a cake
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. drill — the tool
  16. race — humankind
  17. drill — army training
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. mine — for digging
  20. race — a contest
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. race — the arms race

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