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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. ball — a dance
  3. last — final
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bound — obliged
  7. last — finally
  8. fall — to drop
  9. file — a tool
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. rule — a law
  14. fall — to drop
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. field — a subject
  18. file — a line of people
  19. ball — a great time
  20. file — a document
  21. degree — from a university
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. last — to go on
  24. rule — government

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