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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — a friend
  4. club — for dancing
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. drill — army training
  9. rule — government
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — happy
  12. club — for golf
  13. drill — the tool
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. mate — to breed
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. club — a group
  19. board — a committee
  20. rule — a law
  21. drill — a practice
  22. board — to get on
  23. stem — to come from
  24. content — the amount

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