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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: stand · land · rule · rash · mark · chip · field · clip

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. chip — to eat
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rule — government
  7. land — ground
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. stand — to bear
  10. chip — for betting
  11. rash — a series
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. mark — a trace
  16. land — to come down
  17. clip — a video
  18. land — a country
  19. field — for sport
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. mark — a grade

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