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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. track — to keep track
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. track — a path
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. kick — in football
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. clip — a video
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. mine — for digging
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bat — the animal
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. track — a song
  24. clip — to cut

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