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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. craft — a skill
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. land — to come down
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pound — a weight
  11. kid — child
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. kid — to tease
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. land — ground
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. land — a country
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. ball — a dance
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. craft — boats

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