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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. cell — in biology
  3. rule — a law
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cell — a phone
  6. saw — the tool
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. spring — of water
  10. race — a contest
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. spring — the season
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — part of the head
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wound — an injury
  19. race — the arms race
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cold — an illness
  22. race — humankind
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. saw — the tool

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