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

Word bank: clip · arm · band · pit · cold · calf · lash · cabinet

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. band — a ring
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. band — a music group
  18. pit — a hole
  19. clip — a video
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. pit — in a race

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