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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rule — government
  5. file — a line of people
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. file — a document
  8. cue — a signal
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cue — a hint
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cue — for pool
  13. tear — to rip
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. file — a tool
  16. branch — a division
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. tear — from crying
  19. rule — a law
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. kick — in football
  23. tear — from crying
  24. branch — of a bank

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