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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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Word bank
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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. kid — child
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. ball — a dance
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bark — to shout
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. chest — a box
  15. ball — a great time
  16. chest — of your body
  17. race — a contest
  18. stand — to bear
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. race — humankind
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. clip — to cut
  24. race — the arms race

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