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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. fall — to drop
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. chest — a box
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fall — the season
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. band — a music group
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. clip — a video
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. craft — boats
  21. bark — to shout
  22. craft — a skill
  23. band — a ring
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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