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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. chest — a box
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. staff — employees
  5. object — an aim
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. staff — employees
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. hand — help
  14. chest — of your body
  15. clip — a video
  16. chest — of your body
  17. staff — a stick
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. object — a thing
  23. branch — a division
  24. hand — in cards

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