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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 chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. shower — to wash
  5. content — happy
  6. race — humankind
  7. hand — help
  8. rule — government
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hand — in cards
  11. rule — a law
  12. root — of a word
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — the earth
  15. shower — rain
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. root — of a plant
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. ground — crushed
  22. root — the cause
  23. content — the amount
  24. hand — part of the body

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