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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. board — to get on
  4. bat — the animal
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. board — a committee
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. pop — music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pop — soda
  11. cold — an illness
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. rule — a law
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. rule — government
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. lie — to recline
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — an untruth

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