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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. spell — letters
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — a series
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. spell — magic
  7. prune — to trim
  8. game — a match
  9. dip — to sink
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. prune — to trim
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — clever
  17. spell — a short time
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. tear — from crying
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. rash — hasty
  23. game — wild animals
  24. tear — to rip

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