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

Word bank: tear · track · cabinet · chest · rule · kid · pop · ground

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. ground — crushed
  3. pop — to visit
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. ground — the earth
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. ground — a position
  12. pop — soda
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. track — to keep track
  15. pop — music
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rule — a law
  18. track — a song
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. track — a path
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. chest — a box

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