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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. shower — rain
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. chest — a box
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. tear — from crying
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. tear — to rip
  12. clip — a video
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. mark — a trace
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mark — a grade
  18. shower — to wash
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. stand — to bear
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. clip — for paper

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