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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. clip — to cut
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bank — of a river
  5. bank — for money
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. squash — to crush
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — not warm
  12. can — a tin
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. clip — a video
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wind — moving air
  17. can — to be able to
  18. wind — moving air
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bank — for money
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. squash — the vegetable

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