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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  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. rule — government
  2. stem — to come from
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. last — final
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. rule — a law
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. net — for catching
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. net — in sport
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. object — to protest
  17. net — after costs
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. fork — in a road
  21. last — to go on
  22. object — a thing
  23. object — an aim
  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