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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: straw · tear · hand · net · band · swing · lash · content

  1. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. tear — from crying
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. content — the amount
  6. band — a music group
  7. content — happy
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. swing — to play on
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — in sport
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — in cards
  16. swing — music
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. band — a ring
  20. hand — help
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. tear — to rip
  23. swing — in golf
  24. net — after costs

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