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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. last — final
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mate — to breed
  5. rule — a law
  6. ground — a position
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. scale — in music
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a hole
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — happy
  18. ground — the earth
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. mate — a partner
  21. content — the amount
  22. scale — size or range
  23. mate — a friend
  24. straw — a straw man

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