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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rule — a law
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. sharp — clever
  14. face — part of the head
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. net — after costs
  17. rule — government
  18. rash — hasty
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. face — to confront
  21. rash — a series
  22. net — for catching
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. net — in 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