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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: fan · lash · band · bark · chest · straw · net · rest

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. net — in sport
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. net — after costs
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. band — a music group
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. chest — of your body
  18. net — for catching
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rest — a break
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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