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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. mine — for digging
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. row — a line
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bat — the animal
  21. rule — a law
  22. rush — hurry
  23. row — to paddle
  24. rush — to hurry

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