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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. fall — to drop
  13. tear — from crying
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. tear — from crying
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. plane — a tool
  23. bat — the animal
  24. sharp — with an edge

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