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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  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. snap — to click
  2. rash — hasty
  3. tear — from crying
  4. last — final
  5. march — the month
  6. tear — from crying
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. deal — to handle
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. rash — a series
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. march — the month
  15. last — finally
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. march — music
  18. date — the fruit
  19. tear — to rip
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. last — to go on
  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