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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 · kid · sharp · cold · lean · clip · plane · fine

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lean — thin
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. clip — to cut
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. clip — for paper
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. clip — a video
  12. sharp — clever
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. cold — an illness
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kid — child
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. fine — all right
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. plane — a tool
  23. fine — high quality
  24. lean — to bend

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