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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. field — farmland
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. last — to go on
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. swing — in golf
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — final
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fall — to drop
  14. rule — a law
  15. swing — music
  16. fall — the season
  17. last — finally
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. fall — to drop
  20. row — to paddle
  21. rule — government
  22. row — a line
  23. shower — rain
  24. field — a subject

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