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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bass — low music
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. clip — a video
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cell — in biology
  11. root — of a plant
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a word
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. bass — the fish
  24. chest — of your 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