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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rash — a series
  3. spring — the season
  4. race — a contest
  5. file — a document
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. rule — a law
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. rash — hasty
  11. file — a tool
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. file — a line of people
  14. race — the arms race
  15. last — final
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. last — to go on
  18. spring — a coil
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. rule — government
  21. race — humankind
  22. last — finally
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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