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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bass — the fish
  5. band — a music group
  6. mate — a friend
  7. cell — a phone
  8. mate — to breed
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. shower — rain
  11. bass — low music
  12. stand — to bear
  13. rule — government
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rule — a law
  19. band — a ring
  20. shower — to wash
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rule — to rule out

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