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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: land · rush · fall · straw · press · band · rash · file

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. file — a line of people
  3. land — to come down
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. land — a country
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. fall — to drop
  9. land — ground
  10. rush — hurry
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. press — newspapers
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. rash — hasty
  16. file — a document
  17. fall — the season
  18. press — a publisher
  19. rash — a series
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. file — a tool
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. press — to push

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