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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: chair · lash · bowl · nail · pitch · bark · fall · race

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. pitch — completely
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. race — humankind
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. fall — the season
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — a contest
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chair — a leader
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. lash — an eyelash

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