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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. current — of water
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — a container
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wound — an injury
  13. current — electric
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. current — happening now
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. rule — a law
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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