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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. clip — a video
  3. field — farmland
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. scale — size or range
  7. present — a gift
  8. fall — the season
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. clip — for paper
  11. present — the time now
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. field — for sport
  15. clip — to cut
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. snap — to click
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. present — there
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. scale — in music
  24. field — a subject

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