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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. content — happy
  3. present — a gift
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — to bend
  6. hand — help
  7. suit — in cards
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. suit — to fit
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. lean — thin
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. present — there
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. content — the amount
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. clip — to cut
  20. hand — in cards
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. present — the time now
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. suit — clothes

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