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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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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: pound · cap · bat · rash · hide · lean · clip · row

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cap — a lid
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. rash — a series
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a hat
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. lean — thin
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. clip — a video
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. pound — a weight
  16. row — a line
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. row — to paddle
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. rash — hasty
  24. lean — to bend

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