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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rash — hasty
  5. face — to confront
  6. rash — a series
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. bat — the animal
  9. land — a country
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. face — part of the head
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. land — to come down
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rule — a law
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. land — ground
  19. ball — a dance
  20. spring — the season
  21. face — to point toward
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ball — a great time
  24. rule — to rule out

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