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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: wind · lash · bat · club · clip · spring · chair · stick

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. spring — the season
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spring — a coil
  11. club — for dancing
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. clip — a video
  14. spring — of water
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — to cut
  20. club — for golf
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. club — a group

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