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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. rule — a law
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. snap — to click
  5. hand — in cards
  6. chest — of your body
  7. file — a tool
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. track — a song
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. track — to keep track
  16. rule — government
  17. hand — help
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. track — a path
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a document

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