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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a partner
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. cold — an illness
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mate — a friend
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. rule — a law
  12. rule — government
  13. court — for sport
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. rush — hurry
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. court — of law
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. mine — for digging
  23. court — of a king
  24. cold — the Cold War

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