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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. cold — not warm
  6. branch — a division
  7. last — to go on
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kick — in football
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. last — final
  14. last — finally
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. chest — of your body
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. chest — a box
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. rule — a law
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. dip — to sink
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. pitcher — a jug

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