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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. rule — to rule out
  3. race — humankind
  4. field — a subject
  5. capital — money
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. field — farmland
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. race — a contest
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. rule — a law
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — rain
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. field — for sport
  21. capital — a city
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. race — the arms race
  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