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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. present — a gift
  4. mate — a friend
  5. root — of a word
  6. present — the time now
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rule — government
  9. rule — a law
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rock — a stone
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. hand — help
  16. mate — a partner
  17. mate — to breed
  18. wound — an injury
  19. root — of a plant
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. rock — music
  23. root — the cause
  24. present — there

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