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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. last — final
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. rule — government
  5. last — finally
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. tear — from crying
  8. field — for sport
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. row — to paddle
  11. field — a subject
  12. last — to go on
  13. mate — to breed
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. tear — from crying
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. mate — a friend
  19. row — a line
  20. field — farmland
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. mate — a partner
  24. tear — to rip

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