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

Word bank: deal · capital · perch · bark · clip · swing · lash · craft

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. craft — a skill
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. craft — boats
  5. swing — music
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — a video
  8. perch — the fish
  9. swing — to play on
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. swing — in golf
  14. clip — to cut
  15. deal — to handle
  16. capital — a city
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. clip — for paper
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. craft — a handicraft

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