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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. drill — a practice
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. clip — a video
  7. stock — shares
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. chip — for betting
  10. clip — for paper
  11. drill — the tool
  12. stock — goods
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. drill — army training
  17. chip — to eat
  18. cold — not warm

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