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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fall — to drop
  4. rash — hasty
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — to come down
  7. bark — to shout
  8. tear — to rip
  9. prune — to trim
  10. fall — to drop
  11. tear — from crying
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. land — ground
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. land — a country
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. fall — the season

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