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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. chest — of your body
  3. season — of the year
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — to breed
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mine — for digging
  11. spell — magic
  12. rule — a law
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. chest — a box
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. rush — hurry
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spell — letters
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. spell — a short time
  22. mate — a partner
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. season — in sport

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