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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. field — farmland
  3. rule — a law
  4. clip — for paper
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. field — for sport
  9. tube — the underground
  10. date — the fruit
  11. pitch — completely
  12. tube — a container
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. field — a subject
  18. bound — obliged
  19. clip — a video
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bound — tied together
  24. bound — certain

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