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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · hide · wound · ground · rule · row

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — the earth
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — a country
  9. row — to paddle
  10. ground — a position
  11. wound — an injury
  12. land — ground
  13. row — a line
  14. rule — a law
  15. wound — an injury
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. rule — government

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