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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 116 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. clip — a video
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. lie — to recline
  8. wound — an injury
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. bat — the animal
  16. clip — for paper
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. capital — a city
  21. drill — the tool
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pound — a weight
  24. 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