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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. rule — a law
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. content — the amount
  7. mine — for digging
  8. track — a song
  9. content — happy
  10. chest — of your body
  11. track — a path
  12. key — for a lock
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. season — in sport
  15. chest — a box
  16. season — of the year
  17. chest — of your body
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. key — the most important part
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. key — in music
  24. track — to keep track

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