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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: content · chair · rule · cold · rock · cabinet · spring · spell

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. spring — of water
  3. chair — a leader
  4. rock — a stone
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. rock — music
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spring — the season
  17. rule — a law
  18. content — the amount
  19. rule — government
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spell — letters
  23. content — happy
  24. spell — magic

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