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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 116 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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. race — a contest
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chip — to eat
  7. wound — an injury
  8. face — part of the head
  9. fork — in a road
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pit — in a race
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. race — humankind
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. face — to confront
  20. chip — for betting
  21. cold — not warm
  22. race — the arms race
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. cold — an illness

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