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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 116 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 · bear · cell · straw · board · lash · wind · field

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. board — a committee
  4. swing — in golf
  5. wind — moving air
  6. field — for sport
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. swing — music
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. swing — to play on
  11. field — farmland
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cell — a phone
  15. board — to get on
  16. field — a subject
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. cell — in biology
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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