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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 124 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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. chest — a box
  4. clip — a video
  5. fine — high quality
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. field — for sport
  12. spell — letters
  13. field — a subject
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. mine — for digging
  16. field — farmland
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. fine — all right
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. chest — of your body
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — magic

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