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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. spring — the season
  3. race — the arms race
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. cap — of ice
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. race — a contest
  13. stem — to come from
  14. cap — a lid
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — of water
  18. race — humankind
  19. swing — in golf
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cap — a hat
  22. rule — a law
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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