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

Word bank: clip · capital · shower · racket · face · arm · lash · rest

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to point toward
  5. shower — to wash
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. rest — what's left
  16. capital — money
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. face — to confront
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. capital — a city
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. clip — to cut
  24. arm — part of the 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