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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. band — a ring
  8. wind — moving air
  9. file — a document
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cold — not warm
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. tear — to rip
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. file — a line of people
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. band — a music group
  24. wind — moving air

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