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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 116 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: lash · row · cabinet · fall · snap · tear · clip · staff

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. snap — to click
  3. clip — a video
  4. staff — employees
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. fall — to drop
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. clip — for paper
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. fall — the season
  12. row — a line
  13. tear — from crying
  14. row — to paddle
  15. staff — a stick
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tear — from crying
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. staff — employees
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. tear — to rip

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