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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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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: march · lie · stand · rest · band · lash · cold · saw

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. march — the month
  8. stand — to bear
  9. cold — not warm
  10. march — music
  11. rest — what's left
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. saw — the tool
  14. rest — a break
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. band — a music group
  19. march — the month
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. saw — the tool
  23. lie — to recline
  24. rest — what's left

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