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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: plane · calf · wound · pop · lash · bat · cell · march

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. cell — a phone
  3. wound — an injury
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. pop — music
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. march — the month
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — in biology
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wound — an injury
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. plane — a tool
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. pop — soda
  20. bat — the animal
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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