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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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Word bank
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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. cold — not warm
  3. kid — child
  4. chest — a box
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chest — of your body
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. drill — a practice
  9. season — in sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bear — the animal
  12. kid — to tease
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. drill — army training
  16. bear — the animal
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. drill — the tool
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. rule — government
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. season — of the year
  24. rule — to rule out

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