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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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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cap — a lid
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cap — of ice
  14. wound — an injury
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. clip — a video
  17. cell — in biology
  18. clip — for paper
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pound — a weight
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. calf — of the leg

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