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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. land — ground
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. rule — government
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. land — a country
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bark — to shout
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. date — the fruit
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. rule — a law
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. wound — an injury
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. fork — in a road
  23. land — to come down
  24. fork — to eat with

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