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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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 rest against
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. lean — thin
  5. game — a match
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. court — of law
  8. drill — the tool
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bark — to shout
  11. drill — a practice
  12. game — wild animals
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. tear — to rip
  15. lean — to bend
  16. court — for sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. drill — army training
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. sharp — clever
  22. court — of a king
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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