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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: squash · rock · bat · fork · clip · drill · kid · lash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. squash — to crush
  2. drill — a practice
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. drill — the tool
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. bat — the animal
  11. kid — to tease
  12. clip — to cut
  13. drill — army training
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. clip — a video
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. squash — the sport
  18. rock — music
  19. rock — a stone
  20. kid — child
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — to eat with
  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