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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: last · mine · march · stem · swing · clip · lash · spell

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. swing — in golf
  5. march — the month
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. stem — to come from
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — final
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. march — music
  15. spell — magic
  16. swing — music
  17. clip — for paper
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. march — the month
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. swing — to play on
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. last — finally
  24. spell — letters

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