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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: fork · club · wound · bark · squash · drill · lash · clip

  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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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. squash — to crush
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. club — for dancing
  7. clip — for paper
  8. club — a group
  9. fork — in a road
  10. drill — a practice
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. drill — the tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. squash — the sport
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. drill — army training
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. club — for 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