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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pop — soda
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. kid — to tease
  13. mine — for digging
  14. rule — a law
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. mine — belonging to me

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