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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. face — to confront
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wound — an injury
  5. land — a country
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in biology
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — humankind
  11. land — to come down
  12. swing — to play on
  13. face — to point toward
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. snap — to click
  18. race — a contest
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. face — part of the head
  21. wound — an injury
  22. swing — music
  23. plane — a tool
  24. land — ground

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