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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. content — happy
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. suit — clothes
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. suit — to fit
  11. row — to paddle
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. swing — music
  14. content — the amount
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. swing — in golf
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. perch — the fish
  21. row — a line
  22. swing — to play on
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. branch — a division

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