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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. hand — in cards
  5. press — to push
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. band — a music group
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — a law
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. present — the time now
  15. band — a ring
  16. tear — to rip
  17. present — there
  18. hand — help
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — newspapers
  24. present — a gift

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