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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: kid · rule · scale · date · cell · land · coach · row

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. land — a country
  3. kid — to tease
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. row — to paddle
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. scale — size or range
  12. date — the fruit
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. land — to come down
  19. kid — child
  20. scale — in music
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — a law
  23. land — ground
  24. cell — in biology

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