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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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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: cold · lash · straw · clip · cabinet · pit · arm · root

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. cold — not warm
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. pit — in a race
  7. root — of a plant
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a word
  11. clip — a video
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. cold — an illness
  20. clip — for paper
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. straw — a straw man
  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