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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: cabinet · cell · kick · fine · ruler · spell · cold · last

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. fine — all right
  2. fine — high quality
  3. spell — letters
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. kick — in football
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. spell — magic
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. last — finally
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. cold — an illness
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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