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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 felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. tear — from crying
  4. face — to confront
  5. face — to point toward
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. rush — hurry
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. tear — from crying
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. tear — to rip
  14. ball — a great time
  15. wound — an injury
  16. ball — a dance
  17. wax — to grow
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. face — part of the head

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