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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · lash · bore · can · plane · fan · clip · degree

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. plane — a tool
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cold — not warm
  8. can — to be able to
  9. degree — an amount
  10. clip — to cut
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. degree — temperature
  13. can — a tin
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. bore — to tire
  16. degree — from a university
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cold — an illness
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. can — a tin
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. bore — to drill

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