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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. rule — government
  3. mate — to breed
  4. rule — a law
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — humankind
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. prune — to trim
  10. race — a contest
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mate — a friend
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. mate — a partner
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. file — a tool
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. straw — dry grass

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