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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. rule — government
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. mine — for digging
  5. swing — to play on
  6. wake — a trail
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. field — a subject
  11. swing — music
  12. field — for sport
  13. face — to confront
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cell — a phone
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. field — farmland
  18. cell — in biology
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. swing — in golf
  21. rule — a law
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to point toward

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