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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. pop — soda
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. pop — to visit
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. pop — music
  7. rule — government
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. spring — the season
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a document
  13. race — the arms race
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. net — in sport
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. net — after costs
  19. race — humankind
  20. rule — a law
  21. spring — of water
  22. file — a tool
  23. spring — a coil
  24. race — a contest

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