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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bat — the animal
  5. last — final
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. last — finally
  19. last — to go on
  20. rule — a law
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pound — a weight

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