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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 116 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. march — the month
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. march — the month
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bat — the animal
  8. march — music
  9. tear — from crying
  10. perch — the fish
  11. tear — to rip
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to drill
  16. degree — an amount
  17. prune — to trim
  18. degree — from a university
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. prune — to trim

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