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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. row — a line
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. kid — child
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. race — humankind
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. clip — to cut
  13. race — the arms race
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. prune — to trim
  16. race — a contest
  17. clip — for paper
  18. prune — to trim
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. row — to paddle
  22. rush — hurry
  23. clip — a video
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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