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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. rule — government
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. hand — help
  5. bat — the animal
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. field — farmland
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. game — wild animals
  10. track — a song
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. field — for sport
  13. hand — in cards
  14. track — to keep track
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. field — a subject
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. prune — to trim
  21. game — a match
  22. prune — to trim
  23. rule — a law
  24. track — a path

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