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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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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: rule · wake · pop · object · bat · lash · cap · file

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bat — the animal
  3. object — to protest
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. cap — of ice
  6. rule — a law
  7. object — an aim
  8. cap — a lid
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. pop — music
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. file — a document
  16. cap — a hat
  17. pop — to visit
  18. object — a thing
  19. file — a tool
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. wake — a trail
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pop — soda

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