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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: swing · bat · cell · wax · wound · lean · lash · mark

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. swing — music
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. lean — thin
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. cell — a phone
  12. swing — in golf
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mark — a trace
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — to bend
  22. mark — a grade
  23. cell — in a prison
  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