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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 124 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. clip — a video
  3. rule — government
  4. wax — to grow
  5. file — a document
  6. face — part of the head
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. face — to confront
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. clip — to cut
  14. row — a line
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rule — a law
  17. file — a tool
  18. face — to point toward
  19. row — to paddle
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. file — a line of people

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