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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: cold · race · bore · hand · branch · kick · rule · lash

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. rule — government
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. hand — in cards
  14. kick — in football
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. bore — to drill
  17. race — humankind
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. bore — to tire
  20. hand — help
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. branch — a division
  24. rule — a law

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