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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: pop · wind · rule · coach · hand · net · lash · cold

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. net — in sport
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. net — after costs
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. net — for catching
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rule — a law
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. pop — soda
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cold — not warm
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. pop — to visit
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pop — music
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. cold — the Cold War

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