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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. spell — magic
  3. cue — a signal
  4. land — ground
  5. face — to confront
  6. field — farmland
  7. spell — letters
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. race — a contest
  12. cue — a hint
  13. land — a country
  14. field — for sport
  15. scale — in music
  16. face — part of the head
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cue — for pool
  19. land — to come down
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. field — a subject
  22. race — humankind
  23. face — to point toward
  24. spell — a short time

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