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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. bat — the animal
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. tear — to rip
  8. roll — a list
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. roll — a cake
  11. shower — rain
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. can — a tin
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. rule — government
  18. net — after costs
  19. can — to be able to
  20. net — in sport
  21. can — a tin
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. shower — to wash
  24. net — for catching

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