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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. rule — government
  4. rash — hasty
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — the fruit
  8. drill — a practice
  9. rule — a law
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a song
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. rash — a series
  16. last — finally
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. last — final
  21. drill — army training
  22. last — to go on
  23. cold — not warm
  24. drill — the tool

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