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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rule — a law
  3. rule — government
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. stock — goods
  6. land — a country
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. pitch — completely
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. shower — rain
  16. mate — a partner
  17. land — to come down
  18. object — to protest
  19. shower — to wash
  20. degree — an amount
  21. object — an aim
  22. object — a thing
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. pitch — a sports field

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