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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 120 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 · bore · tube · rule · mine · sharp · bat · root

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. root — of a plant
  5. land — ground
  6. tube — the underground
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. root — of a word
  9. bore — to tire
  10. mine — for digging
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. land — to come down
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. root — the cause
  19. tube — a container
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bore — to drill
  22. rule — government
  23. land — a country
  24. tube — in a tire

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