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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 · craft · fan · land · leaves · chest · spring · track

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. craft — boats
  5. chest — a box
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. spring — the season
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. rule — government
  14. land — a country
  15. spring — a coil
  16. craft — a skill
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — of water
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. track — a path
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a song
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. rule — to rule out

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