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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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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: mug · stick · cell · cold · rule · spring · can · fine

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. mug — to rob
  3. rule — a law
  4. fine — high quality
  5. can — a tin
  6. rule — government
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. spring — the season
  10. cell — in biology
  11. fine — all right
  12. spring — a coil
  13. mug — a cup
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. can — a tin
  19. cell — a phone
  20. spring — of water
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. mug — a face

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