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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: chair · season · lash · tear · club · clip · kick · craft

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. club — a group
  4. season — in sport
  5. tear — to rip
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. season — of the year
  13. craft — boats
  14. club — for golf
  15. craft — a skill
  16. clip — for paper
  17. kick — in football
  18. clip — a video
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. club — for dancing
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. craft — a handicraft

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