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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: rash · squash · bat · last · wind · wound · ruler · snap

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. last — to go on
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. snap — to click
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. rash — hasty
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. last — finally
  11. squash — to crush
  12. bat — the animal
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rash — a series
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. last — final
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. wound — an injury
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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