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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. field — for sport
  3. net — for catching
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. spring — of water
  7. saw — the tool
  8. spring — a coil
  9. field — a subject
  10. rule — a law
  11. bank — for money
  12. field — farmland
  13. spring — the season
  14. cue — for pool
  15. net — in sport
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. bank — of a river
  18. net — after costs
  19. cue — a hint
  20. cue — a signal
  21. saw — the tool
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. bank — for money

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