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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 120 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. clip — for paper
  3. snap — to click
  4. clip — a video
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. fork — in a road
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. current — happening now
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. clip — to cut
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. season — in sport
  22. current — of water
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. current — electric

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