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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. spring — a coil
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. rule — government
  7. club — for golf
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. rule — a law
  10. fine — high quality
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rash — a series
  14. spring — the season
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — of water
  20. band — a music group
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. fine — all right
  23. club — a group
  24. club — for dancing

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