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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 120 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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. squash — the sport
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — a law
  5. field — a subject
  6. land — a country
  7. march — the month
  8. bulb — for light
  9. field — farmland
  10. land — ground
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. perch — the fish
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. land — to come down
  16. squash — to crush
  17. field — for sport
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. march — the month
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. march — music

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