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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 water is too ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. land — to come down
  3. squash — to crush
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. lean — thin
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. land — ground
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. chip — for betting
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. wax — to grow
  18. lean — to bend
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. chip — to eat
  21. land — a country
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cell — in biology

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