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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.

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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: rest · chest · can · clip · season · pitch · march · lash

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. march — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — the month
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — to be able to
  8. pitch — completely
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. clip — to cut
  11. can — a tin
  12. rest — what's left
  13. season — of the year
  14. rest — what's left
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. rest — a break
  17. clip — a video
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. season — in sport
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. march — the month
  22. clip — for paper
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. chest — a box

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