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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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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: race · last · clip · lash · pitcher · temple · rash · wind

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. wind — moving air
  3. last — final
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. race — a contest
  7. clip — a video
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. last — finally
  11. clip — to cut
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rash — a series
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — for paper
  20. race — humankind
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. lash — an eyelash

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