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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 116 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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. stand — to bear
  3. field — a subject
  4. last — final
  5. game — wild animals
  6. field — for sport
  7. rule — a law
  8. game — a match
  9. ground — the earth
  10. spell — magic
  11. field — farmland
  12. chip — to eat
  13. chip — for betting
  14. rule — government
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. ground — crushed
  17. spell — a short time
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. spell — letters
  20. last — finally
  21. last — to go on
  22. ground — a position
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. chip — in a computer

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