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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bound — tied together
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. march — music
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. clip — a video
  9. march — the month
  10. shower — to wash
  11. rush — hurry
  12. spring — a coil
  13. march — the month
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. shower — rain
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. spring — the season
  19. clip — for paper
  20. stock — goods
  21. bound — certain
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spring — of water
  24. bound — obliged

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