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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. field — a subject
  3. rule — a law
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. pit — a hole
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — tied together
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. capital — money
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. capital — a city
  15. cold — not warm
  16. content — the amount
  17. field — farmland
  18. bound — obliged
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rule — government
  21. cold — an illness
  22. field — for sport
  23. pit — in a race
  24. content — happy

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