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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: face · straw · wind · swing · staff · lash · hand · march

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. hand — help
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. march — music
  9. staff — a stick
  10. face — to confront
  11. march — the month
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — part of the head
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. swing — music
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hand — in cards
  20. swing — to play on
  21. wind — moving air
  22. staff — employees
  23. march — the month
  24. swing — in golf

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