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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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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: net · rest · land · clip · tear · band · lash · plane

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. net — for catching
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. tear — from crying
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. rest — what's left
  8. plane — a tool
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tear — from crying
  11. land — a country
  12. net — after costs
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. net — in sport
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. clip — for paper
  20. band — a ring
  21. tear — to rip
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. clip — a video
  24. rest — what's left

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