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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. object — a thing
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. clip — for paper
  10. land — to come down
  11. object — to protest
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. rule — government
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. clip — a video
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. field — for sport
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. clip — to cut
  20. object — an aim
  21. land — ground
  22. rule — a law
  23. land — a country
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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