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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. face — to confront
  3. band — a ring
  4. bound — obliged
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. field — for sport
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. face — to point toward
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. field — a subject
  11. rule — government
  12. bound — tied together
  13. wind — moving air
  14. land — ground
  15. field — farmland
  16. land — a country
  17. band — a music group
  18. wind — moving air
  19. land — to come down
  20. lean — thin
  21. bound — certain
  22. rule — a law
  23. lean — to bend
  24. face — part of the head

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