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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. last — final
  3. tube — the underground
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. last — to go on
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. hand — help
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. hand — in cards
  11. rule — government
  12. cold — not warm
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. tube — a container
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. last — finally

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