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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. sharp — clever
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. spell — letters
  15. pass — a permit
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. hand — help
  19. spell — a short time
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. tear — from crying
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. wind — moving air
  24. spell — magic

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