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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. saw — the tool
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. game — a match
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. game — wild animals
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. field — for sport
  9. spring — a coil
  10. saw — the tool
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — the season
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. club — a group
  15. club — for golf
  16. foot — a measure
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. club — for dancing
  19. rule — a law
  20. spring — of water
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. field — a subject
  24. fork — in a road

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