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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. rule — a law
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. land — ground
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. rule — government
  12. drill — a practice
  13. charge — a price
  14. squash — to crush
  15. drill — army training
  16. land — to come down
  17. bark — to shout
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. charge — electricity
  22. drill — the tool
  23. field — for sport
  24. land — a country

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