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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: swing · lash · wind · tear · jam · cold

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wind — moving air
  3. tear — from crying
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. tear — from crying
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. swing — music
  17. cold — an illness
  18. jam — in traffic

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