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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. lean — to bend
  6. spring — a coil
  7. club — a group
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lean — thin
  10. row — a line
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitch — completely
  13. cold — an illness
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. spring — of water
  16. rule — a law
  17. club — for golf
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. spring — the season
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. club — for dancing
  23. pop — music
  24. lean — to rest against

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