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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. drill — a practice
  3. clip — a video
  4. current — happening now
  5. clip — for paper
  6. current — of water
  7. snap — to click
  8. bass — the fish
  9. field — farmland
  10. bass — low music
  11. clip — to cut
  12. field — a subject
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. drill — the tool
  15. field — for sport
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. current — electric
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. drill — army training
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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