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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. craft — boats
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. dip — to sink
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. craft — a skill
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. hand — in cards
  16. cell — a phone
  17. hand — help
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. rule — a law
  20. sharp — clever
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cell — in biology
  24. dip — to dunk

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