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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. rest — what's left
  4. land — ground
  5. rule — government
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. land — to come down
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. squash — to crush
  12. rest — a break
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. rest — what's left
  18. stem — to come from
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. land — a country
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. squash — the sport
  24. stem — a stem cell

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