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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. game — a match
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. mark — a grade
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. snap — to click
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. fork — in a road
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. rule — a law
  21. rule — government
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. cabinet — ministers

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