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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: kid · bay · rule · drill · game · date · land · cue

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. cue — a hint
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. rule — a law
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. kid — child
  11. game — a match
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. drill — the tool
  16. rule — government
  17. drill — a practice
  18. date — the fruit
  19. cue — for pool
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. land — a country
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cue — a signal

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