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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: vault · court · straw · hand · dip · club · mark · lash

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. mark — a grade
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. court — of law
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. court — of a king
  11. club — for golf
  12. court — for sport
  13. vault — a safe
  14. club — a group
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. club — for dancing
  18. dip — to sink
  19. hand — help
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. mark — a trace
  23. hand — in cards
  24. straw — dry grass

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