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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wound — an injury
  4. dip — to sink
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — a line
  9. bulb — for light
  10. track — to keep track
  11. bulb — for light
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. track — a path
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. track — a song
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wound — an injury
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. row — to paddle
  24. lash — an eyelash

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