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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. clip — a video
  3. scale — in music
  4. scale — size or range
  5. shower — to wash
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. game — wild animals
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. rule — government
  10. content — happy
  11. content — the amount
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. clip — for paper
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. game — a match
  17. rule — a law
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. clip — to cut
  23. shower — rain
  24. game — a kind of play

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