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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 120 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: tear · file · race · kick · stem · court · lash · wake

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. file — a tool
  5. tear — from crying
  6. race — a contest
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. file — a line of people
  11. court — for sport
  12. wake — a trail
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — humankind
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. race — the arms race
  17. tear — to rip
  18. kick — in football
  19. court — of a king
  20. file — a document
  21. stem — to come from
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. court — of law
  24. kick — a thrill

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