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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: last · spring · mate · lash · clip · bat · march · arm

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. last — finally
  3. spring — the season
  4. clip — for paper
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. spring — of water
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bat — the animal
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. last — to go on
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. mate — a partner
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. last — final
  20. march — the month
  21. mate — a friend
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. spring — a coil

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