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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 ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  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. lean — to rest against
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. bass — low music
  4. chest — a box
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. lean — thin
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chest — of your body
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. perch — the fish
  12. clip — a video
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bass — the fish
  15. lean — to bend
  16. wind — moving air
  17. clip — for paper
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. chest — of your body
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  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