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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. snap — to click
  3. last — to go on
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — a group
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. last — finally
  9. hand — help
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. fork — in a road
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. last — final
  17. club — for golf
  18. rule — a law
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. hand — in cards

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