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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. saw — the tool
  4. cue — a signal
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. rule — a law
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. rule — government
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cap — a hat
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wind — moving air
  16. season — of the year
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cue — a hint
  19. row — a line
  20. season — in sport
  21. saw — the tool
  22. row — to paddle
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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