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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: leaves · cell · race · nail · stick · cold · rule · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cell — a phone
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. cell — in biology
  7. rule — a law
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rule — government
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. row — to paddle
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. row — a line
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. race — a contest

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