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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 116 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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. row — a line
  3. cold — not warm
  4. scale — size or range
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bound — tied together
  7. land — ground
  8. mine — for digging
  9. land — to come down
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. rule — a law
  12. bound — obliged
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bound — certain
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. land — a country
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. rule — government
  24. scale — in music

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