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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: clip · shower · roll · content · squash · lash · net · face

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. clip — for paper
  3. content — the amount
  4. clip — a video
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. net — for catching
  7. clip — to cut
  8. shower — to wash
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — part of the head
  11. squash — the sport
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. roll — a cake
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. content — happy
  16. roll — a list
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. squash — to crush
  20. net — in sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. net — after costs
  24. face — to confront

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