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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 120 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: clip · cell · land · squash · lash · tear · charge · cap

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cell — a phone
  4. charge — a price
  5. squash — the sport
  6. clip — for paper
  7. tear — from crying
  8. charge — in control
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — ground
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. squash — to crush
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. charge — electricity
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — a video
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cap — a lid
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. tear — to rip
  23. land — a country
  24. cap — of ice

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