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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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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: wind · bowl · mug · mark · clip · lash · cell · cold

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. mark — a trace
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — an illness
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. mark — a grade
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — a video
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. wind — moving air
  24. mug — to rob

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