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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kid — child
  3. march — music
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fork — in a road
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. march — the month
  16. kid — to tease
  17. tear — from crying
  18. hand — in cards
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. sharp — clever
  22. hand — help
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. march — the month

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