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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. march — the month
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. wound — an injury
  8. ground — crushed
  9. march — music
  10. ground — a position
  11. stock — goods
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. last — to go on
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. track — to keep track
  17. stock — shares
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. rule — a law
  20. last — final
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. march — the month
  23. wound — an injury
  24. last — finally

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