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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. land — to come down
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. ground — the earth
  6. rash — a series
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. clip — a video
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. ground — a position
  11. row — a line
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. wax — to grow
  14. clip — to cut
  15. land — ground
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. rash — hasty
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. land — a country
  20. clip — for paper
  21. ground — crushed
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bowl — to roll

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