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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: file · wind · lash · tear · cell · squash · cap · date

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. cap — of ice
  3. file — a tool
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wind — moving air
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. cell — in biology
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. date — the fruit
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cap — a lid
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cap — a hat
  18. squash — the sport
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. tear — from crying
  24. date — on the calendar

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