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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rule — a law
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. mate — to breed
  9. cold — not warm
  10. content — happy
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mate — a partner
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. content — the amount
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cold — an illness
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. capital — money
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. mate — a friend
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — a big letter

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