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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. rule — a law
  6. pop — to visit
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — soda
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. season — of the year
  12. press — a publisher
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. spell — letters
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. spell — magic
  19. press — to push
  20. last — finally
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. press — newspapers
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. season — in sport

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