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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 116 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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. kid — child
  3. rule — a law
  4. land — ground
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. rule — government
  9. kid — to tease
  10. land — a country
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pass — a permit
  15. land — to come down
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. saw — the tool
  23. degree — an amount
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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