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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: stand · land · bowl · cold · rule · tear · ground · fan

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. cold — not warm
  4. land — a country
  5. stand — to bear
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. rule — government
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. tear — to rip
  11. rule — a law
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. ground — a position
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ground — the earth
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. stand — on your feet

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