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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: lash · racket · land · cue · clip · board · straw · chest

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. cue — a hint
  3. chest — of your body
  4. land — a country
  5. clip — for paper
  6. chest — of your body
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. board — a committee
  11. clip — to cut
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. land — to come down
  14. chest — a box
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. board — to get on
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cue — for pool
  23. land — ground
  24. clip — a video

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