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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. club — a group
  4. cold — not warm
  5. march — the month
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cold — an illness
  9. march — music
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. stand — to bear
  13. club — for golf
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. club — for dancing
  16. tear — from crying
  17. clip — for paper
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. march — the month
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. tear — to rip
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — the Cold War

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