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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 116 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: trunk · race · drill · snap · swing · season · land · lash

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. swing — in golf
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. season — in sport
  6. swing — music
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. season — of the year
  9. snap — to click
  10. land — a country
  11. race — a contest
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. race — humankind
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. drill — the tool
  18. land — to come down
  19. drill — a practice
  20. land — ground
  21. swing — to play on
  22. race — the arms race
  23. drill — army training
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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