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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. fork — in a road
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. degree — from a university
  7. field — for sport
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. game — wild animals
  10. field — farmland
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. degree — temperature
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. degree — an amount
  16. field — a subject
  17. game — a match
  18. fork — a garden tool

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