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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: lash · cold · squash · wind · straw · tear

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cold — not warm
  8. squash — to crush
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. squash — the sport
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. tear — from crying

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