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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. spring — of water
  5. court — of a king
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. rule — a law
  8. pass — a permit
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. spring — the season
  11. court — for sport
  12. rash — a series
  13. root — the cause
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. root — of a plant
  17. rash — hasty
  18. court — of law
  19. root — of a word
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. pass — to spend time

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