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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. spring — of water
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. race — the arms race
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. stock — shares
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. game — a match
  15. game — wild animals
  16. spring — a coil
  17. rule — a law
  18. scale — in music
  19. stock — goods
  20. race — humankind
  21. ground — crushed
  22. pound — a weight
  23. race — a contest
  24. spring — the season

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