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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: ball · squash · saw · wake · date · lash · band · race

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. band — a ring
  3. race — the arms race
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. saw — the tool
  6. race — humankind
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. saw — the tool
  10. race — a contest
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. wake — a trail
  16. date — the fruit
  17. squash — the sport
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. ball — a great time
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. squash — to crush
  24. band — a music group

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