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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. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. content — happy
  5. race — humankind
  6. land — a country
  7. race — a contest
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rest — what's left
  10. race — the arms race
  11. land — to come down
  12. rest — a break
  13. bark — to shout
  14. content — the amount
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spell — magic
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. land — ground
  21. season — in sport
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. season — of the year
  24. rest — what's left

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