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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: chest · field · rest · rule · vault · fall · swing · season

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. season — of the year
  3. rule — a law
  4. field — a subject
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chest — of your body
  9. vault — a safe
  10. chest — a box
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. fall — the season
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. chest — of your body
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — a break
  19. swing — to play on
  20. rest — what's left
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — in golf
  23. fall — to drop
  24. season — in sport

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