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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. hand — in cards
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. clip — a video
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. hand — help
  19. dip — to sink
  20. stem — to come from
  21. clip — for paper
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. dip — to dunk

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