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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. club — for golf
  3. rule — government
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. chip — for betting
  6. scale — in music
  7. club — a group
  8. scale — size or range
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. field — for sport
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. chip — to eat
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. field — farmland
  17. date — the fruit
  18. rash — hasty
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. rash — a series
  21. game — a match
  22. field — a subject
  23. game — wild animals
  24. club — for dancing

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