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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. spell — letters
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. clip — a video
  7. tear — from crying
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. tear — to rip
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. swing — music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. swing — in golf
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spell — magic
  19. swing — to play on
  20. cell — in biology
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to click
  23. spell — a short time
  24. mouse — for a computer

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