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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — the fruit
  3. chip — for betting
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. field — farmland
  7. rule — government
  8. file — a tool
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. chip — to eat
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. field — a subject
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. cold — an illness
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rule — a law
  20. file — a document
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. field — for sport
  24. fan — to cool the air

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