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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: rush · clip · lash · stick · racket · court · chest · branch

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. chest — of your body
  3. court — of a king
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. chest — of your body
  8. court — of law
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. clip — to cut
  11. court — for sport
  12. clip — a video
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rush — hurry
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. chest — a box
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. branch — a division
  24. lash — to lash out

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