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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: kid · last · mate · spring · hand · saw · lash · fan

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. saw — the tool
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. last — final
  8. mate — a partner
  9. hand — help
  10. saw — the tool
  11. spring — of water
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. last — finally
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mate — to breed
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. kid — child
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. last — to go on
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. mate — a friend
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. fan — a supporter

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