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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. rash — a series
  3. clip — to cut
  4. scale — size or range
  5. rash — hasty
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. bound — obliged
  8. scale — in music
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — tied together
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. clip — a video
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. clip — for paper
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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