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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · hide · track · game · cold · ground · land · racket

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. track — a song
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. rule — a law
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a path
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — a country
  10. rule — government
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. game — wild animals
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — crushed
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. game — a match
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. game — a kind of play

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