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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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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: fan · cold · current · plane · bat · spring · last · lash

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. plane — a tool
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. spring — of water
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. current — electric
  9. bat — the animal
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. last — final
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. last — to go on
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. current — happening now
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. current — of water
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. spring — the season
  22. last — finally
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. lash — to lash out

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