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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. file — a document
  3. mine — for digging
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. capital — a city
  11. spring — of water
  12. file — a line of people
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — money
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. file — a tool
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. rule — a law
  22. lie — to recline
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. spring — the season

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