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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. object — to protest
  3. cold — not warm
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. sharp — clever
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. chest — a box
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. object — a thing
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. object — an aim
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. rule — government
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. cold — an illness
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. sharp — with an edge

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