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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: march · lean · calf · bat · wind · lash · rash · straw

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. march — music
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. march — the month
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. rash — hasty
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. bat — the animal
  16. wind — moving air
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. rash — a series
  19. lean — to bend
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. lean — thin
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — for baseball

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