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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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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rule — government
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. kid — child
  6. chest — a box
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pop — music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pop — to visit
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pop — soda
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rule — a law

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