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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — a law
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rest — a break
  9. rest — what's left
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. rest — what's left
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — for light
  18. mark — a grade
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. mark — a trace
  21. game — a match
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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