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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. lean — thin
  4. last — final
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. clip — for paper
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. hand — in cards
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. perch — the fish
  12. lean — to bend
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. clip — to cut
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. hand — help
  19. content — happy
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — the amount
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. arm — part of the body

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