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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. march — the month
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. march — the month
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. shower — to wash
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cue — for pool
  13. cue — a signal
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. clip — a video
  16. tear — from crying
  17. march — music
  18. cue — a hint
  19. shower — rain
  20. kid — to tease
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. kid — child
  23. clip — to cut
  24. snap — to click

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