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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: last · date · chair · lash · content · fall · spell · tear

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. tear — to rip
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. content — happy
  8. last — finally
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. spell — magic
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. date — the fruit
  14. chair — a leader
  15. spell — letters
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. spell — a short time
  19. tear — from crying
  20. fall — to drop
  21. tear — from crying
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. content — the amount

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