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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. rule — a law
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. field — farmland
  9. mine — for digging
  10. lean — thin
  11. cell — in biology
  12. field — for sport
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cell — a phone
  15. march — music
  16. squash — the sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. rule — government
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. fork — in a road
  23. squash — to crush
  24. lean — to rest against

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