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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: current · court · clip · bat · trunk · dip · lash · key

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. current — of water
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. bat — the animal
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. court — for sport
  10. key — in music
  11. clip — a video
  12. key — the most important part
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. clip — for paper
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. current — electric
  18. key — for a lock
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. dip — to sink
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. dip — to dunk

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