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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: wind · lash · fork · file · staff · club · hand · face

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hand — help
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wind — moving air
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. club — a group
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — part of the head
  11. fork — in a road
  12. staff — employees
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a tool
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. staff — a stick
  17. club — for golf
  18. hand — in cards
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. face — to point toward
  21. file — a line of people
  22. staff — employees
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. hand — part of the 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