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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  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. fan — a supporter
  2. lie — to recline
  3. rule — government
  4. bat — the animal
  5. face — to confront
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ball — a dance
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. face — to point toward
  10. club — a group
  11. face — part of the head
  12. ball — a great time
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. club — for dancing
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. club — for golf
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rule — a law
  23. ball — a round shape
  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