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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: ground · field · roll · mine · wind · cue · fall · rule

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rule — a law
  4. fall — the season
  5. cue — a signal
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — the earth
  8. fall — to drop
  9. roll — a cake
  10. wind — moving air
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. fall — to drop
  13. roll — a list
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — a subject
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — for sport
  19. cue — a hint
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. ground — crushed
  24. cue — for pool

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