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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. vault — a safe
  6. fall — the season
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. tear — from crying
  9. current — electric
  10. land — a country
  11. fall — to drop
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. rule — a law
  14. tear — to rip
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. current — of water
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rule — government
  21. court — of a king
  22. stem — to come from
  23. current — happening now
  24. stem — of a plant

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