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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 116 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: fan · last · mate · lash · clip · face · game · craft

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. craft — boats
  5. mate — to breed
  6. face — to point toward
  7. mate — a friend
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. game — wild animals
  11. mate — a partner
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. last — to go on
  15. game — a match
  16. clip — for paper
  17. last — final
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. clip — a video
  20. craft — a skill
  21. face — part of the head
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. clip — to cut
  24. last — finally

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