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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. field — for sport
  3. saw — the tool
  4. prune — to trim
  5. land — a country
  6. hand — help
  7. land — ground
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. saw — the tool
  12. court — for sport
  13. land — to come down
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — a law
  16. field — farmland
  17. court — of a king
  18. hand — in cards
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — a division
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. field — a subject
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. court — of law

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