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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — of ice
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. cap — a lid
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. stock — shares
  8. face — part of the head
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rule — government
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kid — child
  17. cap — a hat
  18. stock — goods

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