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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. staff — employees
  6. clip — to cut
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. root — the cause
  9. shower — to wash
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. cell — in biology
  16. shower — rain
  17. cell — a phone
  18. staff — a stick
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. clip — a video
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. staff — employees
  23. mine — for digging
  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