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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. club — for golf
  4. face — to confront
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. charge — electricity
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cell — in biology
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to point toward
  11. club — for dancing
  12. charge — a price
  13. rest — a break
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. club — a group
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cell — a phone
  21. rock — a stone
  22. charge — in control
  23. clip — a video
  24. rock — music

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