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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: last · rule · bore · roll · land · chest · rash · degree

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. land — to come down
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — a series
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. rule — a law
  8. bore — to tire
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. last — finally
  11. chest — a box
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chest — of your body
  14. degree — an amount
  15. last — final
  16. roll — a list
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. roll — a cake
  19. rule — government
  20. last — to go on
  21. land — a country
  22. chest — of your body
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bore — to drill

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