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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 · squash · current · rule · mate · present · wind · lash

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rule — a law
  4. land — ground
  5. present — a gift
  6. current — happening now
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. present — there
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. rule — government
  12. mate — a partner
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. wind — moving air
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. mate — to breed
  18. mate — a friend
  19. current — electric
  20. squash — the sport
  21. present — the time now
  22. squash — to crush
  23. current — of water
  24. land — to come down

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