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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: straw · rest · lash · charge · wind · prune · march · band

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  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. charge — electricity
  2. rest — what's left
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. wind — moving air
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. march — music
  8. band — a ring
  9. prune — to trim
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. march — the month
  13. charge — a price
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rest — a break
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. band — a music group
  19. march — the month
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wind — moving air
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. charge — in control
  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