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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: tear · clip · mark · band · straw · lash · mate · rest

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mark — a trace
  3. mate — to breed
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rest — what's left
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. clip — to cut
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mate — a partner
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. rest — a break
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. band — a music group
  19. mark — a grade
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. band — a ring
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. rest — what's left

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