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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: lash · degree · chest · snap · leaves · band · cold · bear

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. band — a ring
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. chest — a box
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. band — a music group
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. cold — an illness
  12. snap — to click
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bear — the animal
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bear — the animal
  18. degree — from a university
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. degree — temperature

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