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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. chest — of your body
  8. file — a tool
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. chest — a box
  12. file — a document
  13. foot — a measure
  14. kick — in football
  15. band — a music group
  16. pound — a weight
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. band — a ring
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. file — a line of people
  24. chest — of your body

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