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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bank — for money
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. content — happy
  6. bank — for money
  7. wind — moving air
  8. swing — to play on
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. clip — a video
  11. bank — of a river
  12. pound — a weight
  13. swing — music
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. kick — in football
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. clip — to cut
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wind — moving air
  24. swing — in golf

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