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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. fall — to drop
  4. march — the month
  5. scale — size or range
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. march — music
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. pound — a weight
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. clip — a video
  12. ball — a great time
  13. march — the month
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. scale — in music
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. fall — to drop
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. ball — a dance
  22. fall — the season
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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