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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: pound · straw · chest · rash · last · lash · tear · face

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tear — from crying
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. chest — of your body
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. face — to point toward
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. face — to confront
  16. chest — a box
  17. last — finally
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. pound — a weight
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — hasty
  24. face — part of the head

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