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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. drill — army training
  4. degree — an amount
  5. clip — to cut
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. clip — a video
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. clip — for paper
  10. drill — a practice
  11. net — for catching
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. degree — from a university
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — to paddle
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — after costs
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. drill — the tool
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. row — a line

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