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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: last · press · lash · root · pound · hand · cold · rule

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. root — of a word
  3. hand — in cards
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. last — final
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. root — of a plant
  11. pound — a weight
  12. rule — a law
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. press — a publisher
  16. last — to go on
  17. press — to push
  18. last — finally
  19. cold — an illness
  20. hand — help
  21. root — the cause
  22. rule — government
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. press — newspapers

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