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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: chair · drill · racket · rush · capital · snap · lash · squash

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. chair — a leader
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. capital — a city
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. snap — to click
  9. squash — the sport
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. drill — army training
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. drill — the tool
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. squash — to crush
  21. rush — hurry
  22. drill — a practice
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. capital — money

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