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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: squash · spring · court · wind · branch · saw · chest · lash

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spring — the season
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. chest — of your body
  8. spring — a coil
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. chest — of your body
  11. squash — to crush
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. squash — the sport
  14. court — of law
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. court — for sport
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. chest — a box
  22. branch — a division
  23. court — of a king
  24. spring — of water

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