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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. spell — magic
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rule — government
  9. bulb — for light
  10. game — a match
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rule — a law
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. spell — letters
  17. hand — help
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. hand — in cards
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. spell — a short time
  22. bulb — for light
  23. cold — an illness
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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