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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bore — to drill
  3. race — humankind
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. race — the arms race
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bore — to tire
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. court — for sport
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cell — a phone
  13. court — of law
  14. ball — a great time
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. race — a contest
  17. court — of a king
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cell — in biology
  23. face — to point toward
  24. ball — a dance

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