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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 have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. spring — a coil
  4. wind — moving air
  5. race — the arms race
  6. face — part of the head
  7. spring — of water
  8. snap — to click
  9. spring — the season
  10. wind — moving air
  11. court — of law
  12. rash — hasty
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. rash — a series
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — to confront
  19. court — for sport
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. court — of a king
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — humankind

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