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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rest — what's left
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. band — a music group
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. rest — a break
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. band — a ring
  21. march — the month
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. clip — a video

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