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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: court · lash · wind · kid · race · wave · clip · bulb

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. race — humankind
  5. bulb — for light
  6. kid — to tease
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. clip — a video
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kid — child
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. clip — to cut
  17. court — of a king
  18. race — the arms race
  19. court — of law
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. court — for sport
  24. race — a contest

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