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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. bass — the fish
  4. track — a path
  5. clip — a video
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. row — a line
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kick — in football
  11. clip — to cut
  12. ground — crushed
  13. row — to paddle
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. bass — low music
  17. track — a song
  18. ground — the earth
  19. rest — what's left
  20. ground — a position
  21. rest — what's left
  22. track — to keep track
  23. rest — a break
  24. row — a quarrel

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