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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. ground — crushed
  3. rule — government
  4. branch — a division
  5. rule — a law
  6. bear — the animal
  7. date — the fruit
  8. ground — the earth
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. track — to keep track
  11. ground — a position
  12. bear — the animal
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. game — a match
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. game — wild animals
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. branch — of a bank

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