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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 116 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: clip · race · last · bat · season · lash · stock · charge

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. race — a contest
  3. last — finally
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. clip — a video
  7. charge — a price
  8. season — in sport
  9. last — to go on
  10. stock — goods
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bat — the animal
  13. race — the arms race
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. charge — electricity
  18. last — final
  19. charge — in control
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. season — of the year
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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