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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. race — the arms race
  3. band — a ring
  4. bat — the animal
  5. court — of law
  6. face — to confront
  7. band — a music group
  8. face — to point toward
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. race — a contest
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. clip — for paper
  14. court — for sport
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. clip — a video
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. saw — the tool
  20. race — humankind
  21. saw — the tool
  22. court — of a king
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. band — a rubber band

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