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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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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: bat · bound · lash · drill · game · can · clip · rest

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. bound — certain
  3. clip — for paper
  4. drill — the tool
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bound — obliged
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. drill — a practice
  10. can — a tin
  11. rest — a break
  12. game — a match
  13. can — a tin
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. rest — what's left
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. bound — tied together
  18. rest — what's left
  19. drill — army training
  20. clip — a video
  21. game — wild animals
  22. can — to be able to
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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