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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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pitch — completely
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. clip — for paper
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. club — for golf
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. scale — in music
  14. plane — a tool
  15. club — for dancing
  16. fall — the season
  17. club — a group
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. fall — to drop
  22. tear — to rip
  23. clip — a video
  24. scale — size or range

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