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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. object — a thing
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. rule — a law
  6. clip — to cut
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. object — to protest
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — in sport
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. net — after costs
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. object — an aim
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rule — government
  19. last — finally
  20. clip — a video
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. hand — in cards

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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