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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. branch — a division
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. game — a match
  10. game — wild animals
  11. ball — a dance
  12. rush — hurry
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. ball — a great time
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. wound — an injury
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. tear — to rip
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. kick — in football

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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