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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. tear — to rip
  3. root — of a word
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rule — a law
  6. file — a document
  7. rest — a break
  8. root — of a plant
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rule — government
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cell — in biology
  14. file — a line of people
  15. root — the cause
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tear — from crying
  20. band — a ring
  21. file — a tool
  22. band — a music group
  23. tear — from crying
  24. rest — what's left

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