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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. face — to confront
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — a law
  5. fall — to drop
  6. scale — size or range
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. mine — for digging
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. face — to point toward
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. scale — in music
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. straw — a straw man

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