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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. rule — government
  3. vault — a safe
  4. wound — an injury
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. rule — a law
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. content — happy
  10. cold — an illness
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. cold — not warm
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wound — an injury
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. leaves — lets stay

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