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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: cold · bat · can · suit · bay · clip · prune · lash

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. clip — for paper
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — not warm
  9. can — to be able to
  10. cold — an illness
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. clip — a video
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. suit — clothes
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bat — the animal
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. suit — in cards
  21. can — a tin
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. suit — to fit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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