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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: straw · fall · court · race · lash · last · squash · plane

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. last — finally
  4. race — humankind
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. court — of a king
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. squash — the sport
  13. last — to go on
  14. court — of law
  15. fall — to drop
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. plane — a tool
  20. squash — to crush
  21. court — for sport
  22. race — the arms race
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. race — a contest

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