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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: toast · rule · field · clip · content · land · fine · drill

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. content — happy
  3. drill — army training
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. rule — government
  7. clip — a video
  8. land — ground
  9. field — for sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. toast — bread
  12. drill — a practice
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fine — all right
  15. land — to come down
  16. rule — a law
  17. clip — to cut
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. drill — the tool
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. clip — for paper

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