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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stem — to come from
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — finally
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cold — an illness
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. rule — a law
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. last — final
  23. rule — government
  24. snap — to click

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