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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.

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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 · lash · row · straw · club · rest · file · object

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. club — for golf
  3. swing — to play on
  4. rest — what's left
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. club — a group
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. object — a thing
  11. rest — what's left
  12. club — for dancing
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. object — an aim
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. swing — music
  17. rest — a break
  18. object — to protest
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. row — a line
  21. swing — in golf
  22. file — a document
  23. row — to paddle
  24. file — a tool

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