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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. stand — to bear
  3. land — ground
  4. wind — moving air
  5. file — a tool
  6. land — to come down
  7. rule — government
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. fine — high quality
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. file — a document
  13. rule — a law
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. land — a country
  16. file — a line of people
  17. fine — all right
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wind — moving air
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. shower — to wash
  23. date — the fruit
  24. shower — rain

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