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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. land — a country
  3. face — to confront
  4. stock — shares
  5. perch — the fish
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. face — part of the head
  10. court — of law
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. face — to point toward
  13. wind — moving air
  14. land — ground
  15. court — of a king
  16. stock — goods
  17. plane — a tool
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rule — a law
  21. land — to come down
  22. rule — government
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — for a bird

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