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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. spring — of water
  4. fine — high quality
  5. bank — for money
  6. spring — the season
  7. fine — all right
  8. fork — in a road
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. bank — of a river
  11. land — a country
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. land — to come down
  14. file — a line of people
  15. rule — a law
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. file — a tool
  18. shower — to wash
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bank — for money
  21. shower — rain
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. land — ground
  24. file — a document

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