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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. tube — a container
  3. lean — thin
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. field — farmland
  7. bat — the animal
  8. field — for sport
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. roll — a cake
  16. field — a subject
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. roll — a list
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. rule — a law
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. tube — the underground
  24. lean — to bend

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