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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 120 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: fork · lash · drill · hand · kid · wake · present · last

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. present — there
  4. present — the time now
  5. wake — a trail
  6. drill — army training
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — in a road
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. present — a gift
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. last — final
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. drill — a practice
  20. kid — to tease
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. kid — child

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