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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 · cell · spring · lash · chair · craft · prune · last

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. craft — boats
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. prune — to trim
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. spring — the season
  11. chair — a leader
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. clip — a video
  14. spring — of water
  15. cell — in biology
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. cell — a phone
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. last — final
  21. spring — a coil
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. craft — a skill

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