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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: date · rule · squash · land · key · fork · hand · stock

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. rule — a law
  3. key — in music
  4. date — the fruit
  5. stock — goods
  6. squash — to crush
  7. land — a country
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. hand — in cards
  12. land — ground
  13. key — for a lock
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. squash — the sport
  19. rule — government
  20. key — the most important part
  21. stock — shares
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. land — to come down

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