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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: wake · bat · patient · lash · fall · band · arm · rash

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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. rash — on the skin
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. band — a music group
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. rash — a series
  12. bat — the animal
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. fall — the season
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. fall — to drop
  18. rash — hasty
  19. fall — to drop
  20. band — a ring
  21. wake — a trail
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. arm — part of the body

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