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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 chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. rule — government
  4. field — farmland
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. clip — to cut
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. wound — an injury
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. clip — for paper
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wound — an injury
  15. clip — a video
  16. field — a subject
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. chair — a leader
  19. rule — a law
  20. ball — a great time
  21. ball — a dance
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. field — for sport

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