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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: bat · leaves · fan · wound · pop · lash · squash · court

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — of law
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — the sport
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. pop — soda
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. pop — to visit
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. court — for sport
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. pop — music
  23. wound — an injury
  24. leaves — to go away

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