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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 · wind · pop · cap · cold · lean

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rule — a law
  3. wind — moving air
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lean — thin
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — music
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lean — to bend
  14. cap — of ice
  15. rule — government
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — a hat
  18. pop — soda

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