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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rule — a law
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. last — finally
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. pit — in a race
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cell — in biology
  18. rule — government

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