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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. rest — a break
  3. cell — in biology
  4. rule — government
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rest — what's left
  9. last — to go on
  10. spell — magic
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. toast — bread
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rule — a law
  16. last — final
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. last — finally
  19. mine — for digging
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. spell — a short time
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. spell — letters

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