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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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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: lash · stock · racket · bat · spell · spring · last · bark

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. spell — letters
  3. stock — shares
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. spell — magic
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. last — final
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spring — of water
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. spring — the season
  14. last — finally
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — to shout
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. spring — a coil
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. last — to go on
  21. stock — goods
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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