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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. last — to go on
  3. cap — a lid
  4. wound — an injury
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. last — finally
  7. bass — the fish
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. content — the amount
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. file — a line of people
  14. last — final
  15. rule — government
  16. bass — low music
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cap — a hat
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. content — happy
  24. rule — a law

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