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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. charge — a price
  3. tear — to rip
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. charge — in control
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. charge — electricity
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. tear — from crying
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. band — a ring
  19. tear — from crying
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. band — a music group
  24. bat — the animal

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