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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. track — a path
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rule — a law
  5. shower — to wash
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. fall — to drop
  8. track — a song
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. capital — a city
  14. shower — rain
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. hand — help
  17. fall — to drop
  18. deal — to handle
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. fall — the season
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. track — to keep track
  23. capital — money
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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