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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rule — government
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bat — the animal
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bound — certain
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cap — a hat
  12. bound — obliged
  13. tear — to rip
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cue — a hint
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cue — a signal
  21. bound — tied together
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rule — a law

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