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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. spring — a coil
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. last — final
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cell — a phone
  13. wake — a trail
  14. last — to go on
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. last — finally
  17. spring — of water
  18. cell — in biology
  19. spring — the season
  20. cold — an illness
  21. rule — a law
  22. rule — government
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. court — of law

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