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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: lash · straw · bat · scale · bark · clip · stick · race

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. bark — of a tree
  2. race — a contest
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. race — humankind
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. race — the arms race
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. clip — for paper
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. scale — in music
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. scale — size or range
  19. bark — to shout
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. clip — a video
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bat — for baseball
  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