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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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Word bank
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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: ball · track · lash · chest · chair · wind · row · mug

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. chair — a leader
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. ball — a dance
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. ball — a great time
  10. track — a path
  11. mug — to rob
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. mug — a cup
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. track — a song
  16. wind — moving air
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mug — a face
  19. chest — a box
  20. track — to keep track
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. row — a line
  24. chest — of your body

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