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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: plane · cell · object · march · clip · lash · wound · roll

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. roll — a cake
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — in biology
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. march — the month
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. march — the month
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. clip — for paper
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. clip — a video
  15. object — to protest
  16. clip — to cut
  17. object — a thing
  18. roll — a list
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cell — a phone
  21. object — an aim
  22. plane — a tool
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. roll — on a roll

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