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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 120 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wound — an injury
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. rule — a law
  6. row — to paddle
  7. land — to come down
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. land — a country
  13. band — a music group
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tube — a container
  16. land — ground
  17. saw — the tool
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wind — moving air
  21. row — a line
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. rule — government

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