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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 116 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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rock — a stone
  3. rule — a law
  4. club — a group
  5. land — ground
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. rock — music
  9. land — to come down
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bark — to shout
  12. land — a country
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. club — for dancing
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. spring — a coil
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. club — for golf
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wound — an injury

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