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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.

Make a worksheet

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: fan · file · mine · clip · squash · lash · racket · last

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. last — final
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. clip — for paper
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — to cut
  8. last — to go on
  9. squash — the sport
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. file — a tool
  13. clip — a video
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. last — finally
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. file — a document
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. mine — for digging
  23. file — a line of people
  24. racket — for tennis

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