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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: net · rash · game · wind · lash · wound · hand · prune

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. rash — a series
  3. game — a match
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. net — after costs
  6. hand — in cards
  7. rash — hasty
  8. game — wild animals
  9. hand — help
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. prune — to trim
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — in sport
  17. wound — an injury
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hand — part of the body

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