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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. rule — government
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. last — final
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. rule — a law
  10. wind — moving air
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. stem — to come from
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. last — finally
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mine — for digging
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. wind — to turn a key

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