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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rule — government
  3. prune — to trim
  4. field — for sport
  5. face — part of the head
  6. net — for catching
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. net — in sport
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. rule — a law
  11. scale — in music
  12. field — a subject
  13. prune — to trim
  14. race — the arms race
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. field — farmland
  17. face — to point toward
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. scale — size or range
  20. race — humankind
  21. stand — to bear
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. race — a contest
  24. face — to confront

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