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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. cap — a hat
  3. court — of law
  4. tear — from crying
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. court — of a king
  7. face — to confront
  8. court — for sport
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. drill — the tool
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. drill — army training
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cap — a lid
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. face — to point toward
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cap — of ice
  23. bat — the animal
  24. drill — a practice

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