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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 120 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. game — wild animals
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. branch — a division
  5. game — a match
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. rule — a law
  8. net — in sport
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. drill — a practice
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. net — after costs
  14. drill — the tool
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. mine — for digging
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — in a race
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. net — for catching
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. drill — army training

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