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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: cold · rule · snap · lash · kid · fork · tear · present

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fork — in a road
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. rule — government
  7. kid — child
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. present — a gift
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tear — to rip
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. snap — to click
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. present — there
  22. tear — from crying
  23. rule — a law
  24. present — the time now

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