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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. file — a tool
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — a partner
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pop — to visit
  8. rule — government
  9. can — to be able to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. spring — the season
  13. mate — to breed
  14. file — a document
  15. can — a tin
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. can — a tin
  18. spring — a coil
  19. pop — music
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pop — soda
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cold — an illness
  24. spring — of water

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