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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 120 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: capital · wound · cold · land · stem · rule · lash · wake

  1. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. rule — a law
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. capital — a city
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. capital — money
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wound — an injury
  11. land — ground
  12. cold — an illness
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. rule — government
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — not warm
  21. land — a country
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wound — an injury
  24. lash — to lash out

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