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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: march · mug · ground · perch · rule · hand · fan · tube

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. hand — in cards
  5. march — music
  6. tube — the underground
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. ground — crushed
  9. hand — help
  10. tube — a container
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. ground — the earth
  13. mug — to rob
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. mug — a cup
  17. perch — the fish
  18. march — the month
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. march — the month
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. ground — a position
  23. mug — a face
  24. rule — a law

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