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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 120 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: rule · lash · march · swing · hide · cold · fall · bowl

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. fall — to drop
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. fall — to drop
  9. swing — to play on
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. rule — a law
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. swing — music
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. swing — in golf
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fall — the season
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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