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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: race · lash · bass · mate · squash · cell · chair · kid

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. bass — the fish
  4. cell — a phone
  5. kid — child
  6. squash — the sport
  7. mate — a friend
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. mate — to breed
  11. race — the arms race
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mate — a partner
  17. squash — to crush
  18. race — humankind
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bass — low music
  22. cell — in biology
  23. race — a contest
  24. bass — the instrument

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