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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. sharp — clever
  3. fine — all right
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cue — a signal
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. field — a subject
  9. cue — a hint
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cue — for pool
  13. rule — government
  14. field — farmland
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — for sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cold — not warm
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. fine — high quality
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. tear — to rip
  23. rule — a law
  24. kid — to tease

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