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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fall · toast · tear · lash · march · kid

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. march — music
  3. fall — to drop
  4. tear — from crying
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. march — the month
  7. kid — child
  8. tear — from crying
  9. march — the month
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. fall — to drop
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. toast — bread
  15. kid — to tease
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. fall — the season
  18. tear — to rip

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