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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: lash · march · rest · fall · pitcher · spring · land · roll

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. march — the month
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. march — the month
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — a break
  9. land — a country
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. spring — of water
  13. land — to come down
  14. roll — a list
  15. fall — to drop
  16. spring — the season
  17. land — ground
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. spring — a coil
  20. march — music
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rest — what's left
  23. roll — a cake
  24. fall — the season

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