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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 124 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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. field — for sport
  5. snap — to click
  6. tear — from crying
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. wind — moving air
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. tear — from crying
  11. field — farmland
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. fine — high quality
  14. kick — in football
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. field — a subject
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. tear — to rip
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. fork — in a road

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