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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. hand — in cards
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. mug — a face
  6. season — of the year
  7. hand — help
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. season — in sport
  10. clip — for paper
  11. branch — a division
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. mug — a cup
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mug — to rob
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. lash — an eyelash

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