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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. file — a document
  4. land — to come down
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a line of people
  12. field — a subject
  13. branch — a division
  14. rule — a law
  15. plane — a tool
  16. mine — for digging
  17. content — happy
  18. rule — government
  19. field — for sport
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. land — a country
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. content — the amount
  24. field — farmland

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