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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. clip — to cut
  4. net — in sport
  5. row — a line
  6. net — after costs
  7. clip — a video
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. clip — for paper
  10. branch — a division
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — a tool
  15. net — for catching
  16. shower — to wash
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. press — newspapers
  20. shower — rain
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. press — to push
  23. press — a publisher
  24. row — to paddle

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