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

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. degree — temperature
  3. clip — to cut
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. vault — a safe
  7. degree — from a university
  8. clip — a video
  9. fall — to drop
  10. march — the month
  11. fall — to drop
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — for paper
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. fall — the season
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. squash — to crush
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. squash — the sport
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. leaves — to go away

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