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

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. rule — a law
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. last — final
  6. last — to go on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. court — of a king
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. scale — size or range
  12. court — of law
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. court — for sport
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. sharp — clever
  20. scale — in music
  21. last — finally
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bark — to shout
  24. chair — a professorship

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