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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: lash · snap · squash · race · trunk · cold · swing · court

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. race — the arms race
  3. court — of law
  4. squash — to crush
  5. swing — to play on
  6. race — humankind
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. race — a contest
  13. swing — music
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. court — for sport
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. court — of a king
  19. snap — to click
  20. cold — an illness
  21. swing — in golf
  22. squash — the sport
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. squash — the vegetable

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