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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. lean — thin
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. land — ground
  9. cold — an illness
  10. suit — clothes
  11. land — to come down
  12. lean — to bend
  13. clip — for paper
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. land — a country
  16. clip — a video
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. clip — to cut
  20. perch — the fish
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. suit — to fit

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