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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. rule — a law
  3. branch — a division
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fine — all right
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. rule — government
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. fine — high quality
  14. shower — rain
  15. snap — to click
  16. cold — not warm
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cold — an illness
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. shower — to wash
  24. rest — what's left

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