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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. last — finally
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. shower — rain
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — goods
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. shower — to wash
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. kick — in football
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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