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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 116 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: stick · row · lash · wave · clip · staff · cold · bass

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. row — a line
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. clip — for paper
  5. staff — a stick
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. clip — a video
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — an illness
  21. staff — employees
  22. bass — the fish
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cold — the Cold War

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