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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. fall — the season
  3. spring — of water
  4. rule — government
  5. clip — a video
  6. shower — to wash
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. spring — the season
  10. rule — a law
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spring — a coil
  13. rash — hasty
  14. fall — to drop
  15. spell — letters
  16. fall — to drop
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. clip — for paper
  21. shower — rain
  22. spell — magic
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. spell — a short time

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