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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. clip — for paper
  3. firm — a company
  4. row — a line
  5. face — part of the head
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. capital — a city
  8. rush — hurry
  9. face — to point toward
  10. clip — to cut
  11. capital — money
  12. face — to confront
  13. firm — decided
  14. clip — a video
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. row — to paddle
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. firm — steady
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. rush — a thrill

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