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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. face — to confront
  3. ball — a great time
  4. last — final
  5. can — a tin
  6. ball — a dance
  7. cap — a hat
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — the arms race
  10. can — a tin
  11. race — humankind
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. face — part of the head
  14. cap — a lid
  15. face — to point toward
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. last — finally
  20. last — to go on
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cap — of ice
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. can — to be able to

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