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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: kick · bay · mine · cell · roll · rule · date · board

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. rule — government
  3. roll — a list
  4. rule — a law
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. board — to get on
  9. kick — in football
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. roll — a cake
  15. date — the fruit
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. board — a committee
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. cell — in biology
  24. mine — for digging

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