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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rest — what's left
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. cold — an illness
  7. drill — the tool
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — for betting
  10. rest — what's left
  11. drill — a practice
  12. row — to paddle
  13. game — wild animals
  14. rest — a break
  15. row — a line
  16. current — happening now
  17. rule — government
  18. current — of water
  19. game — a match
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. drill — army training
  23. rule — a law
  24. current — electric

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