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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: clip · mark · bulb · swing · chair · lash · capital · object

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. object — an aim
  3. bulb — for light
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. chair — a leader
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mark — a trace
  9. swing — in golf
  10. capital — a city
  11. swing — to play on
  12. capital — money
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. mark — a grade
  16. bulb — for light
  17. object — a thing
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. clip — a video
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. swing — music
  23. object — to protest
  24. clip — to cut

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