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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: fan · club · wound · staff · hand · spring · trunk · lash

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. staff — employees
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. hand — help
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. club — for dancing
  11. club — for golf
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. club — a group
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. spring — a coil
  23. hand — in cards
  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