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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. clip — for paper
  4. tear — from crying
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. row — to paddle
  7. pop — music
  8. land — a country
  9. pop — to visit
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. clip — a video
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. pop — soda
  17. clip — to cut
  18. land — ground
  19. row — a line
  20. land — to come down
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. lash — to lash out

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