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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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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: cold · cell · wind · rule · ground · hide · bulb · chip

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. chip — to eat
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ground — the earth
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. rule — a law
  9. rule — government
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cell — a phone
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. ground — a position
  15. cell — in biology
  16. ground — crushed
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. chip — for betting
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cold — not warm
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. bulb — for light
  24. cold — the Cold War

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