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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 116 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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. snap — to click
  4. saw — the tool
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. race — a contest
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. race — the arms race
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. race — humankind
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. march — the month
  15. saw — the tool
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. march — music
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. rule — a law
  21. wake — a trail
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — in music
  24. march — the month

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