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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. cold — an illness
  3. race — a contest
  4. plane — a tool
  5. court — of a king
  6. race — the arms race
  7. cold — not warm
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. face — to confront
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. court — of law
  19. race — humankind
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. face — to point toward
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. court — for sport

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