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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  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. season — of the year
  2. present — a gift
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. present — the time now
  5. present — there
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. rash — hasty
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. rash — a series
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. season — in sport
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. rash — on the skin
  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