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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rule — government
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. wound — an injury
  7. drill — the tool
  8. court — of law
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. drill — army training
  11. spring — of water
  12. date — the fruit
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cold — not warm
  15. spring — the season
  16. court — for sport
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rule — a law
  19. court — of a king
  20. drill — a practice
  21. spring — a coil
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. wave — of the sea

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