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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. cold — not warm
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stem — to come from
  9. lie — to recline
  10. squash — the sport
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. shower — to wash
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. squash — to crush
  17. shower — rain
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. rule — a law
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. rule — government

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