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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. face — to confront
  3. court — of law
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. ground — the earth
  6. face — to point toward
  7. court — of a king
  8. ground — crushed
  9. land — ground
  10. court — for sport
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. tear — from crying
  13. face — part of the head
  14. rest — a break
  15. land — to come down
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — what's left
  19. ball — a dance
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. ball — a great time
  22. tear — to rip
  23. ground — a position
  24. wave — with your hand

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