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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. rest — what's left
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. row — to paddle
  7. object — a thing
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. object — to protest
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. face — part of the head
  14. face — to point toward
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. rest — a break
  17. wind — moving air
  18. object — an aim
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. rest — what's left
  22. kick — in football
  23. wound — an injury
  24. row — a line

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