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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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. ground — crushed
  4. staff — employees
  5. rule — government
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. staff — a stick
  10. hand — in cards
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rash — a series
  13. rush — hurry
  14. hand — help
  15. rule — a law
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. ground — a position
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. ground — the earth
  23. staff — employees
  24. hand — part of the body

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