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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. squash — to crush
  3. dip — to sink
  4. land — to come down
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. cold — not warm
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. squash — the sport
  10. rule — government
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. land — ground
  15. rash — hasty
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. rule — a law
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. content — the amount
  23. field — for sport
  24. content — happy

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