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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: court · file · suit · chip · tear · wound · pit · lash

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. suit — in cards
  7. suit — clothes
  8. pit — in a race
  9. suit — to fit
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. court — of a king
  13. wound — an injury
  14. chip — for betting
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. chip — to eat
  18. tear — from crying
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. wound — an injury
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. file — a line of people
  24. lash — to lash out

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