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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. suit — in cards
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rest — what's left
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. suit — to fit
  9. pound — a weight
  10. file — a line of people
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. band — a ring
  13. hand — help
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. rest — a break
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. file — a tool
  21. band — a music group
  22. suit — clothes
  23. file — a document
  24. rest — what's left

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