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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: date · rule · field · object · cell · rest · wind · stock

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. field — farmland
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. object — to protest
  8. cell — in biology
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — goods
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rest — a break
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. field — for sport
  17. cell — a phone
  18. field — a subject
  19. rule — government
  20. wind — moving air
  21. object — an aim
  22. object — a thing
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. stock — a soup base

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