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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 116 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: wake · land · bulb · cold · lash · net · rest · band

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. land — a country
  7. net — in sport
  8. cold — an illness
  9. net — after costs
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a ring
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. net — for catching
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wake — a trail
  18. land — to come down
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. land — ground
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. rest — a break
  23. rest — what's left
  24. cold — not warm

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