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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: last · plane · lash · mine · chip · hand · bat · shower

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. last — final
  3. plane — a tool
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. hand — help
  11. mine — for digging
  12. chip — for betting
  13. last — to go on
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. hand — in cards
  17. shower — rain
  18. bat — the animal
  19. last — finally
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. hand — part of the body

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