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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. sharp — clever
  3. bulb — for light
  4. rule — government
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. can — to be able to
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — a group
  11. bulb — for light
  12. face — to point toward
  13. can — a tin
  14. face — to confront
  15. row — a line
  16. face — part of the head
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rule — a law
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. cold — not warm
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. row — to paddle

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