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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pit — in a race
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. drill — a practice
  6. saw — the tool
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. drill — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. toast — bread
  17. cold — not warm
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. drill — army training
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pit — a hole

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