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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. sharp — clever
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — a law
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a leader
  7. row — to paddle
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — to drop
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. fall — the season
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. squash — the sport
  19. cell — in biology
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. row — a line

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