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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 120 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: lash · mouse · degree · club · march · tear · chair · wound

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. march — music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. club — for dancing
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. march — the month
  9. tear — to rip
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wound — an injury
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. club — for golf
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. wound — an injury
  18. club — a group
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. degree — temperature
  21. march — the month
  22. degree — an amount
  23. chair — a leader
  24. mouse — for a computer

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