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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. tube — the underground
  3. band — a ring
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. band — a music group
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. land — ground
  9. ball — a great time
  10. land — a country
  11. land — to come down
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cold — not warm
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a dance
  20. clip — a video
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. cold — an illness
  23. clip — for paper
  24. tube — a container

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