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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. court — for sport
  3. ground — crushed
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. squash — to crush
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. content — happy
  11. court — of law
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. rule — a law
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. court — of a king
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. spring — the season
  21. squash — the sport
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. content — the amount
  24. hide — to keep secret

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