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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rush — hurry
  3. race — the arms race
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. last — to go on
  6. race — humankind
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. ground — the earth
  9. kick — in football
  10. ground — a position
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. last — finally
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. race — a contest
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. last — final
  24. kick — with a leg

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