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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 124 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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. clip — to cut
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mate — to breed
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. clip — a video
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mate — a partner
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. rush — hurry
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bat — the animal
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mate — a friend
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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