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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: land · cell · board · rule · ground · chair · sharp · temple

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. land — ground
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. board — a committee
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. chair — a leader
  11. ground — crushed
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. board — to get on
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rule — government
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. ground — the earth
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. rule — a law
  22. cell — a phone
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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