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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. mark — a grade
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mark — a trace
  7. bear — the animal
  8. row — a line
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. land — a country
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. rule — a law
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. land — ground
  23. fork — in a road
  24. land — to come down

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