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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: fall · cell · fork · swing · lash · content · ground · clip

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. clip — a video
  6. ground — crushed
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. clip — to cut
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. fall — to drop
  11. swing — to play on
  12. fall — to drop
  13. swing — in golf
  14. ground — a position
  15. cell — in biology
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. clip — for paper
  19. swing — music
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. fall — the season
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. content — the amount

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