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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 124 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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. toast — bread
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. swing — music
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. face — to confront
  12. swing — in golf
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. swing — to play on
  16. clip — a video
  17. snap — to click
  18. clip — for paper
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. bass — low music
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — part of the head

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