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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 120 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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. rule — a law
  3. chest — a box
  4. squash — the sport
  5. ball — a dance
  6. chest — of your body
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. land — to come down
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. chest — of your body
  12. lie — to recline
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. tear — from crying
  15. ball — a great time
  16. tear — to rip
  17. squash — to crush
  18. land — ground
  19. rule — government
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. season — of the year
  22. tear — from crying
  23. season — in sport
  24. land — a country

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