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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. rule — government
  6. band — a ring
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. last — final
  11. last — to go on
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. rule — a law
  19. band — a music group
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. sharp — clever
  24. last — finally

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