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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: swing · saw · tear · fall · lash · bark · season · kid

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. tear — to rip
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. kid — child
  6. fall — the season
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. fall — to drop
  9. saw — the tool
  10. swing — to play on
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. season — in sport
  13. fall — to drop
  14. saw — the tool
  15. swing — music
  16. kid — to tease
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bark — to shout
  19. swing — in golf
  20. season — of the year
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  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