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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: clip · bay · pop · bass · lash · chest · calf · straw

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. bass — low music
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. clip — to cut
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. pop — music
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bass — the fish
  11. chest — a box
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. clip — a video
  16. pop — to visit
  17. chest — of your body
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. chest — of your body
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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