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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pit — a hole
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. face — to confront
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. face — part of the head
  17. scale — in music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cell — a phone
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. rule — government
  24. pit — in a race

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