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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. spring — the season
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — a law
  7. band — a ring
  8. pit — in a race
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. mate — a partner
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. mate — a friend
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. band — a music group
  17. mate — to breed
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. spring — of water
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. pit — a hole
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. spring — a coil

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