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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — to come down
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. game — wild animals
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. land — a country
  10. rule — a law
  11. saw — the tool
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. net — for catching
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. game — a match
  17. land — ground
  18. wind — moving air
  19. saw — the tool
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. rush — hurry
  23. wind — moving air
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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