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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bore — to tire
  4. press — a publisher
  5. rule — a law
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. squash — to crush
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. press — newspapers
  10. squash — the sport
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. chip — to eat
  15. chip — for betting
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bore — to drill
  18. ground — a position
  19. cold — not warm
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ground — crushed
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. press — to push

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