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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fall — to drop
  4. plane — a tool
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. clip — a video
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. foot — a measure
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. perch — the fish
  13. fall — the season
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cold — not warm
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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