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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. rule — a law
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — a contest
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. race — humankind
  10. bass — low music
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. field — farmland
  13. land — a country
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. land — ground
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. field — for sport
  21. bass — the fish
  22. field — a subject
  23. land — to come down
  24. rule — government

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