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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: lash · deal · spring · bore · perch · clip · chest · bat

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. spring — a coil
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. perch — the fish
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. clip — for paper
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. chest — a box
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bore — to drill
  17. spring — of water
  18. chest — of your body
  19. deal — to handle
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bat — the animal
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. clip — a video

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