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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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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. last — to go on
  6. net — for catching
  7. last — final
  8. net — after costs
  9. pop — music
  10. rule — a law
  11. rush — hurry
  12. game — a match
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. net — in sport
  15. pop — to visit
  16. wound — an injury
  17. last — finally
  18. rule — government
  19. land — ground
  20. game — wild animals
  21. land — a country
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. pop — soda

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