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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cold — not warm
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rule — government
  6. shower — rain
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. branch — a division
  11. shower — to wash
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. row — a line
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. snap — to click
  16. cold — an illness
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. row — to paddle
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. deal — to handle
  24. rule — a law

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