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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. face — part of the head
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. game — a match
  7. face — to point toward
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. wound — an injury
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. face — to confront
  17. row — to paddle
  18. wound — past of 'wind'

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