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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: track · cold · wind · tear · rash · wound · cabinet · lash

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. lash — a whip stroke
  2. tear — to rip
  3. rash — hasty
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. track — to keep track
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. track — a path
  12. track — a song
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wind — moving air
  21. tear — from crying
  22. rash — a series
  23. cold — an illness
  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