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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: hand · wound · rash · wind · last · lash · leaves · cap

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. hand — help
  4. cap — a hat
  5. last — final
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wind — moving air
  10. last — to go on
  11. cap — of ice
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cap — a lid
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. wound — an injury
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. rash — a series
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. last — finally
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. rash — hasty

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