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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 120 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. clip — to cut
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. cap — a hat
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. cap — a lid
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pitch — completely
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. clip — for paper
  16. file — a tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. lash — a whip stroke

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