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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cell — a phone
  3. land — a country
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. land — ground
  8. tube — the underground
  9. rule — a law
  10. clip — a video
  11. land — to come down
  12. field — for sport
  13. pound — a weight
  14. field — a subject
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. rule — government
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cell — in biology
  23. tube — a container
  24. field — farmland

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