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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stock · degree · clip · saw · lash · sharp · racket · kick

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. kick — in football
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. degree — an amount
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. saw — the tool
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. clip — to cut
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — goods
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. saw — the tool
  24. racket — for tennis

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