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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. court — of law
  5. wound — an injury
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. rule — government
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fine — high quality
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. court — of a king
  12. land — a country
  13. fine — all right
  14. rule — a law
  15. field — farmland
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. field — for sport
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. field — a subject
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. court — for sport

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