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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bass — the fish
  4. mate — a partner
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — to breed
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — child
  13. game — a match
  14. kid — to tease
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — final
  17. last — finally
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. clip — to cut
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. bass — low music
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of a car

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