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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 124 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. shower — to wash
  5. net — for catching
  6. charge — electricity
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. race — humankind
  10. tube — a container
  11. rule — a law
  12. race — a contest
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. charge — a price
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. net — in sport
  18. tube — the underground
  19. charge — in control
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. race — the arms race
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. net — after costs

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