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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. rest — a break
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bulb — for light
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. file — a document
  11. perch — the fish
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rest — what's left
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. land — to come down
  16. bulb — for light
  17. land — a country
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. file — a tool
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — a series
  23. rule — a law
  24. rule — government

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