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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cold — an illness
  3. net — after costs
  4. tear — from crying
  5. swing — to play on
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — shares
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. swing — music
  11. bound — tied together
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bound — certain
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. net — in sport
  18. cold — not warm
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. net — for catching
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bound — obliged
  23. swing — in golf
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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