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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. present — a gift
  3. hand — help
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. present — the time now
  7. mark — a grade
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. spring — a coil
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cell — in biology
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — of water
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. cell — a phone
  20. rule — government
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. present — there
  24. cold — an illness

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