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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. mug — a face
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. mug — to rob
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mug — a cup
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. sharp — clever
  11. stock — shares
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — a video
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cold — an illness
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. stock — goods

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