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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. land — ground
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. drill — the tool
  6. snap — to click
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rule — government
  11. land — a country
  12. land — to come down
  13. drill — army training
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. drill — a practice
  17. rash — a series
  18. rule — a law
  19. sharp — clever
  20. rash — hasty
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. vault — a safe
  24. cold — the Cold War

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