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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. field — a subject
  11. clip — a video
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. tear — from crying
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. branch — a division
  16. mate — a partner
  17. clip — for paper
  18. mate — a friend
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mate — to breed
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. fan — to cool the air

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