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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 ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. rule — a law
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. row — to paddle
  6. hand — help
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — for betting
  10. chip — to eat
  11. rule — government
  12. bear — the animal
  13. kid — to tease
  14. march — the month
  15. kid — child
  16. bear — the animal
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. row — a line
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. hand — in cards
  24. rule — to rule out

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