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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: rule · cell · fork · march · game · ball · ground · plane

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. march — music
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. game — wild animals
  5. ball — a dance
  6. cell — a phone
  7. plane — a tool
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. march — the month
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — a match
  12. ball — a great time
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. ground — crushed
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. ground — a position
  21. rule — a law
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. march — the month
  24. ground — the earth

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