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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. stock — goods
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. chair — a leader
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. tear — from crying
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — temperature
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. rule — a law
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. tear — to rip
  23. plane — a tool
  24. chair — to sit on

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