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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. rule — government
  4. ground — crushed
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. pass — a permit
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. ground — the earth
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — letters
  20. fork — in a road
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. rule — a law
  23. spell — a short time
  24. cold — the Cold War

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