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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: fall · foot · kick · bark · press · lash · field · rule

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fall — to drop
  3. press — to push
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. field — a subject
  7. fall — the season
  8. press — a publisher
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. rule — a law
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — government
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. field — farmland
  17. press — newspapers
  18. kick — in football
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. field — for sport
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. foot — a measure

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