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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 116 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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. lean — to bend
  3. net — in sport
  4. shower — rain
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. tear — to rip
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — to wash
  12. net — for catching
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. tear — from crying
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. lean — thin
  21. net — after costs
  22. kick — in football
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. tear — from crying

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