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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: bay · squash · race · roll · net · kid · shower · lash

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. race — a contest
  3. squash — to crush
  4. shower — to wash
  5. net — in sport
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. squash — the sport
  8. kid — to tease
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. roll — a cake
  12. net — for catching
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. race — the arms race
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. shower — rain
  18. race — humankind
  19. net — after costs
  20. kid — child
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. lash — an eyelash

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