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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 120 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: cell · chip · lash · prune · wave · rule · fan · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. rule — a law
  4. cell — a phone
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. chip — to eat
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. rule — government
  15. chip — for betting
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. cell — in biology

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