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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. drill — army training
  4. tear — to rip
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. file — a document
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. ground — a position
  9. game — a match
  10. root — of a word
  11. root — the cause
  12. ground — crushed
  13. tear — from crying
  14. file — a line of people
  15. root — of a plant
  16. file — a tool
  17. game — wild animals
  18. tear — from crying
  19. drill — the tool
  20. ground — the earth
  21. pass — a permit
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. drill — a practice

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