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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. rule — government
  3. saw — the tool
  4. rule — a law
  5. game — wild animals
  6. rest — a break
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. shower — to wash
  9. saw — the tool
  10. object — to protest
  11. mate — a friend
  12. rest — what's left
  13. game — a match
  14. rest — what's left
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. object — a thing
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. shower — rain
  20. object — an aim
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. mate — a partner
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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