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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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Word bank
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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: land · stand · chair · roll · rule · wake · calf · cold

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. rule — a law
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. wake — a trail
  7. chair — a leader
  8. stand — to bear
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. cold — an illness
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. land — a country
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. roll — a cake
  20. cold — not warm
  21. roll — a list
  22. rule — government
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. land — ground

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