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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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468
Word bank
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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 spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. object — an aim
  3. cold — not warm
  4. file — a line of people
  5. cold — an illness
  6. object — a thing
  7. current — happening now
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. file — a document
  13. current — electric
  14. ball — a dance
  15. clip — a video
  16. object — to protest
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. current — of water
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. ball — a great time

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