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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: rush · season · last · racket · shower · spring · ground · lash

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. ground — a position
  4. last — finally
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. ground — crushed
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. season — in sport
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. spring — the season
  13. season — of the year
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. shower — to wash
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. ground — the earth
  18. last — to go on
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. shower — rain
  21. spring — a coil
  22. rush — hurry
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. spring — of water

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