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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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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 · lash · face · bark · race · perch · rule · straw

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. rule — a law
  3. race — a contest
  4. land — a country
  5. bark — to shout
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. land — ground
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. face — to point toward
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. land — to come down
  15. face — to confront
  16. rule — government
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. race — humankind
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. face — part of the head
  24. perch — for a bird

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