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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — an illness
  3. game — a match
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. staff — employees
  6. last — to go on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. game — wild animals
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. content — happy
  12. last — finally
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — a stick
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rule — government
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. rule — a law
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. content — the amount
  22. last — final
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. wound — an injury

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