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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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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: bat · lash · snap · row · dip · face · squash · kid

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. kid — child
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. squash — the sport
  12. snap — to click
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. face — part of the head
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. face — to point toward
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. row — a line
  21. row — to paddle
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. bat — the animal
  24. dip — to sink

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