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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: chest · march · bat · lash · rock · rule · present · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. present — the time now
  4. chest — a box
  5. rock — a stone
  6. march — the month
  7. rule — a law
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. chest — of your body
  10. present — a gift
  11. present — there
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bat — the animal
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. rule — government
  18. chest — of your body
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. march — the month
  21. rock — music
  22. fall — to drop
  23. march — music
  24. bat — for baseball

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