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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: race · hand · stick · clip · spring · lash · capital · march

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. race — humankind
  3. march — the month
  4. spring — the season
  5. march — music
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — help
  8. clip — a video
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. spring — a coil
  13. clip — for paper
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. spring — of water
  16. march — the month
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. clip — to cut
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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