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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 116 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 · hide · chair · pound · bat · wind

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bat — the animal
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pound — a weight
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. chair — a leader

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