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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 120 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 water is too ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. cue — a signal
  4. rule — a law
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cue — a hint
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rule — government
  12. cue — for pool
  13. current — happening now
  14. bass — the fish
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. bass — low music
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. current — of water
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. current — electric
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cell — in a prison

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