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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: lash · degree · ground · pitcher · spell · toast · clip · saw

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. saw — the tool
  3. ground — crushed
  4. toast — bread
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. degree — from a university
  7. spell — a short time
  8. clip — a video
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. clip — to cut
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. degree — temperature
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. spell — letters
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — the earth
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. degree — an amount
  22. saw — the tool
  23. spell — magic
  24. clip — for paper

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