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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: clip · bore · face · fine · perch · lash · file · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — the fish
  5. clip — for paper
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — part of the head
  9. fine — high quality
  10. clip — a video
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. kid — child
  13. fine — all right
  14. bore — to tire
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. clip — to cut
  19. face — to confront
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. file — a line of people
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. bore — to drill

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