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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. swing — music
  3. field — farmland
  4. content — happy
  5. mate — a friend
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — in golf
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. field — for sport
  11. chip — to eat
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. rash — hasty
  14. mate — a partner
  15. field — a subject
  16. chip — for betting
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rash — a series
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. mate — to breed
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — government
  24. content — the amount

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