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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. spring — the season
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. band — a ring
  9. rest — what's left
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. march — music
  14. spring — a coil
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. march — the month
  20. rest — a break
  21. band — a music group
  22. march — the month
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. spring — of water

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