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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. band — a music group
  3. track — to keep track
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kick — in football
  10. band — a ring
  11. rule — government
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cold — an illness
  15. hand — help
  16. track — a path
  17. rule — a law
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kid — child
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. track — a song
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. sharp — clever

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