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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 chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. shower — to wash
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. cold — an illness
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. last — final
  10. field — farmland
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. rush — hurry
  14. field — for sport
  15. shower — rain
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. last — to go on
  18. rule — a law
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. field — a subject
  22. rule — government
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. last — finally

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