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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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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to point toward
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. face — to confront
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — tied together
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. game — a match
  17. sharp — clever
  18. band — a ring
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. bound — obliged
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in biology
  23. game — wild animals
  24. land — ground

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