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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. last — finally
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. field — farmland
  7. spring — the season
  8. field — for sport
  9. spring — of water
  10. rule — a law
  11. last — final
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. root — of a word
  15. stock — goods
  16. last — to go on
  17. stock — shares
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a plant
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. field — a subject
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. spring — a coil

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