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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: degree · mine · wake · bay · lash · rule · saw · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rule — government
  3. mine — for digging
  4. cold — not warm
  5. saw — the tool
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. rule — a law
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. saw — the tool
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wake — a trail

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