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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. pop — to visit
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. chest — of your body
  8. field — farmland
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mine — for digging
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. rule — a law
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. field — for sport
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. pop — soda
  21. field — a subject
  22. pop — music
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. chest — a box

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