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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: toast · land · band · roll · lash · chest · snap · hide

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. band — a ring
  5. chest — a box
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. toast — bread
  9. roll — a list
  10. land — ground
  11. land — to come down
  12. chest — of your body
  13. band — a music group
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. roll — a cake
  16. chest — of your body
  17. land — a country
  18. snap — to click
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. lash — an eyelash
  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