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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. clip — to cut
  3. land — a country
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — a law
  6. field — a subject
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. clip — for paper
  9. land — ground
  10. hand — in cards
  11. suit — clothes
  12. suit — in cards
  13. rule — government
  14. field — for sport
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. hand — help
  17. ground — crushed
  18. field — farmland
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. clip — a video
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. land — to come down
  23. ground — the earth
  24. suit — to fit

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