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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: file · stand · court · lash · kid · stick · clip · club

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stand — to bear
  3. court — of law
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. club — a group
  7. clip — for paper
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — for dancing
  13. clip — a video
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. kid — child
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. clip — to cut
  21. file — a tool
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. file — a document
  24. lash — an eyelash

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