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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. band — a ring
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cell — in biology
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. present — there
  8. cell — a phone
  9. squash — to crush
  10. fall — to drop
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. net — for catching
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. clip — to cut
  16. present — the time now
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fall — the season
  19. clip — a video
  20. net — in sport
  21. present — a gift
  22. net — after costs
  23. band — a music group
  24. fall — to drop

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