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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: rule · wound · mine · chest · cell · toast

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. mine — for digging
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. toast — bread
  9. rule — government
  10. cell — in biology
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. wound — an injury
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cell — a phone
  17. rule — a law
  18. chest — a box

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