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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rule — government
  11. tear — to rip
  12. firm — a company
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. cold — an illness
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. season — in sport
  20. tear — from crying
  21. season — of the year
  22. firm — steady
  23. firm — decided
  24. bat — for baseball

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