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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: club · swing · arm · clip · court · kick · lash · plane

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. plane — a tool
  5. court — for sport
  6. clip — for paper
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. clip — to cut
  10. court — of a king
  11. kick — in football
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — a group
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — in golf
  18. club — for golf
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. clip — a video
  23. court — of law
  24. swing — to play on

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