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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. clip — to cut
  3. band — a music group
  4. squash — to crush
  5. clip — a video
  6. squash — the sport
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. clip — for paper
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cell — a phone
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. net — in sport
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. cell — in biology

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