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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. shower — to wash
  3. rule — government
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. kid — child
  13. rule — a law
  14. cell — in biology
  15. stock — goods
  16. shower — rain
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. date — the fruit
  19. cell — a phone
  20. lie — to recline
  21. mine — for digging
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. stock — shares

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