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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. last — to go on
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. rule — a law
  7. game — wild animals
  8. last — final
  9. track — to keep track
  10. game — a match
  11. rule — government
  12. track — a song
  13. mine — for digging
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. press — to push
  18. track — a path
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. last — finally
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — a publisher
  24. cell — a phone

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