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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.

Make a worksheet

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: clip · hand · lash · date · kick · fine · root · pitcher

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — all right
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. clip — to cut
  5. root — the cause
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. date — the fruit
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. clip — a video
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. clip — for paper
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. root — of a plant
  16. kick — in football
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. hand — in cards
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. hand — help
  21. root — of a word
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. lash — an eyelash

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