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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tear — from crying
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. mark — a trace
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. kick — in football
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. clip — to cut
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. tear — from crying
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mark — a grade
  20. tear — to rip
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. branch — a division
  24. clip — a video

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