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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. field — a subject
  3. file — a document
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — a group
  6. file — a line of people
  7. date — the fruit
  8. field — farmland
  9. file — a tool
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rule — a law
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. stem — to come from
  15. wind — moving air
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. club — for dancing
  20. lean — thin
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. field — for sport
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. lean — to bend

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