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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: rule · pitch · field · hand · fork · content · date · shower

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. field — a subject
  3. content — the amount
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. date — the fruit
  8. rule — government
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pitch — completely
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. field — farmland
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. field — for sport
  18. content — happy
  19. fork — in a road
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. hand — help

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