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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. spring — the season
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hand — in cards
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cold — an illness
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. last — finally
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. hand — help
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. lash — an eyelash

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