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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 120 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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. leaves — to go away
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. row — to paddle
  6. land — a country
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. cell — a phone
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. cell — in biology
  13. rule — a law
  14. rule — government
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. wound — an injury
  20. land — ground
  21. land — to come down
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. saw — the tool
  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