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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. tear — to rip
  4. clip — a video
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mug — to rob
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. rest — a break
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. rest — what's left
  16. hand — help
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — to cut
  19. mug — a face
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. mug — a cup
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. lash — to lash out

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