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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. face — to confront
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. clip — for paper
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bass — the fish
  7. game — a match
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. game — wild animals
  11. row — a line
  12. saw — the tool
  13. clip — a video
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. row — to paddle
  17. saw — the tool
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. clip — to cut
  20. face — part of the head
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bass — low music
  24. lash — an eyelash

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