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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 · clip · pop · row · straw · fan · pitch · spell

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. pop — to visit
  3. spell — magic
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. clip — for paper
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. row — a line
  10. pop — music
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. row — to paddle
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. spell — letters
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. pitch — completely
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. spell — a short time
  22. pop — soda
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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