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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. kick — in football
  4. clip — a video
  5. suit — to fit
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. mine — for digging
  8. clip — to cut
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. stock — shares
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. suit — clothes
  19. file — a tool
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. suit — in cards
  22. stock — goods
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. mine — an explosive

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