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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 116 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: ground · wind · rule · last · sharp · snap · chair · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. rule — a law
  3. ground — the earth
  4. sharp — clever
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. last — final
  7. chair — a leader
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. mine — for digging
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. snap — to click
  15. wind — moving air
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. rule — government
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. ground — crushed
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. ground — a position
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. wind — moving air

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