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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: date · lash · root · coach · file · wake · clip · row

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. root — of a word
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. date — the fruit
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. root — the cause
  14. file — a document
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — for paper
  17. row — to paddle
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wake — a trail
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. root — of a plant
  22. file — a line of people
  23. clip — a video
  24. row — a line

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