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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: press · bat · lash · straw · cold · pound · rule · craft

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. press — to push
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. craft — a skill
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rule — a law
  11. pound — a weight
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. cold — not warm
  14. press — a publisher
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. craft — boats
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cold — an illness

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