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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: swing · chest · row · sharp · wax · ball · lash · craft

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  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. craft — boats
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. row — a line
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. chest — a box
  10. swing — to play on
  11. ball — a great time
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. craft — a skill
  14. swing — music
  15. wax — to grow
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. sharp — clever
  18. row — to paddle
  19. swing — in golf
  20. ball — a dance
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. chest — of your body
  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