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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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Word bank
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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: rash · press · tear · lash · staff · bat · game · pass

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. press — to push
  5. tear — from crying
  6. rash — hasty
  7. pass — a permit
  8. game — a match
  9. staff — employees
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. rash — a series
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. game — wild animals
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — a publisher
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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