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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 120 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: bark · lash · cold · tube · clip · race · staff · rest

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. race — humankind
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bark — to shout
  6. clip — a video
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rest — what's left
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cold — an illness
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. staff — employees
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. rest — a break
  17. staff — employees
  18. tube — a container
  19. rest — what's left
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. clip — to cut
  24. race — a contest

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