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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. land — to come down
  3. row — a line
  4. rule — government
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rule — a law
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. season — of the year
  9. drill — the tool
  10. land — ground
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. squash — to crush
  14. season — in sport
  15. squash — the sport
  16. ball — a dance
  17. drill — army training
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. row — to paddle
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. drill — a practice
  22. rush — hurry
  23. land — a country
  24. rule — to rule out

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