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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: cold · rest · rule · snap · tear · hide

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. rule — a law
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. rest — what's left
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — a break
  15. snap — to click
  16. rule — government
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. hide — animal skin

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