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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. fall — to drop
  4. season — of the year
  5. rule — a law
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rush — hurry
  12. fall — the season
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. spell — a short time
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. spell — letters
  18. season — in sport
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. spell — magic

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