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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: rash · content · face · march · drill · lash · cell · saw

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. cell — a phone
  3. drill — a practice
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. march — the month
  7. rash — a series
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. face — to point toward
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cell — in biology
  13. content — happy
  14. saw — the tool
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. content — the amount
  17. drill — army training
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. saw — the tool
  21. face — to confront
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. drill — the tool

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