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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. tear — to rip
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. branch — a division
  7. tear — from crying
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. clip — to cut
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. clip — for paper
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. tear — from crying
  17. clip — a video
  18. lash — an eyelash

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