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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. hand — help
  3. clip — for paper
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. clip — to cut
  6. hand — in cards
  7. swing — to play on
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. rash — a series
  10. clip — a video
  11. degree — an amount
  12. swing — music
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. snap — to click
  16. rash — hasty
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. degree — temperature
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. swing — in golf
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. degree — from a university
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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