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

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. snap — to click
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. capital — money
  7. tear — from crying
  8. last — final
  9. capital — a city
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. deal — to handle
  13. tear — to rip
  14. last — finally
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. tear — from crying
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. chair — a leader
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. last — to go on
  24. deal — an agreement

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