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

Word bank: pop · court · hide · cell · tear · lash

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. tear — from crying
  3. court — for sport
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pop — music
  7. tear — to rip
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. pop — to visit
  10. court — of law
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — a phone
  14. pop — soda
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. court — of a king
  18. cell — in a prison

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