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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. rule — a law
  3. squash — to crush
  4. rule — government
  5. present — a gift
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a document
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. present — the time now
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. shower — rain
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. shower — to wash
  15. mark — a grade
  16. file — a line of people
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. mark — a trace
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. present — there
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. kick — in football

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