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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 120 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. ball — a dance
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stem — to come from
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. drill — army training
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. ball — a great time
  15. clip — a video
  16. drill — the tool
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — to cut
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. drill — a practice
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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