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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. rest — what's left
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. land — to come down
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. present — a gift
  15. rest — a break
  16. land — ground
  17. rule — a law
  18. present — there
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. present — the time now
  21. rule — government
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. land — a country

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