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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.

Make a worksheet

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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — in football
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spell — magic
  7. clip — a video
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. spell — letters
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — for paper
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. clip — to cut
  17. stem — to come from
  18. spell — a short time

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