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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · safe · rule · land · mate · cell

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. rule — government
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. rule — a law
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. cell — a phone
  7. mate — to breed
  8. tear — from crying
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. mate — a friend
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cell — in biology
  13. land — to come down
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country

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