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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 116 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: last · rule · cold · cell · lie · snap · perch · nail

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. lie — to recline
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. last — finally
  5. cold — not warm
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. perch — the fish
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. cell — in biology
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cell — a phone
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. snap — to click
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rule — a law
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. nail — for a hammer

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