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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 · cell · ball · bulb · cold · rest · wound · club

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bulb — for light
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. club — for dancing
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. cold — an illness
  10. rule — government
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. ball — a dance
  13. rest — a break
  14. bulb — for light
  15. club — a group
  16. ball — a great time
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rule — a law
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. rest — what's left
  22. club — for golf
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cold — not warm

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