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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. ground — the earth
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. ground — a position
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. rash — a series
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. rash — hasty
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. ground — crushed
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. rule — a law
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. clip — a video
  18. rule — government
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wake — a trail
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. clip — for paper

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