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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: rest · cold · bore · rule · ground · march · fine · game

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. march — the month
  3. bore — to drill
  4. fine — all right
  5. cold — not warm
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. march — the month
  8. rule — government
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. game — a match
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. rest — what's left
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. rest — a break
  17. rule — a law
  18. cold — an illness
  19. ground — the earth
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rest — what's left
  22. march — music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fine — high quality

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