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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rule — government
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. pop — soda
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. rule — a law
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. plane — a tool
  13. content — the amount
  14. mine — for digging
  15. pop — music
  16. wind — moving air
  17. content — happy
  18. cold — an illness
  19. roll — a list
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pop — to visit
  22. roll — a cake
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. content — videos and posts

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