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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: straw · lash · pop · ground · fork · arm · date · clip

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fork — in a road
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — music
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. clip — to cut
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. ground — the earth
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. clip — a video
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. date — the fruit
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. clip — for paper

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