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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. spring — a coil
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — a country
  5. court — of law
  6. face — part of the head
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. cell — in biology
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. face — to confront
  11. hand — in cards
  12. rock — music
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. court — of a king
  15. spring — the season
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. face — to point toward
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. land — ground
  21. spring — of water
  22. court — for sport
  23. hand — help
  24. cell — a phone

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