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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: lash · clip · cold · chest · wave · date · pound · lie

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. chest — of your body
  3. date — the fruit
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. clip — a video
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. chest — a box
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chest — of your body
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pound — a weight

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