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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. hand — in cards
  3. saw — the tool
  4. face — part of the head
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — of water
  8. shower — rain
  9. rash — hasty
  10. hand — help
  11. court — of law
  12. deal — to handle
  13. court — for sport
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. court — of a king
  16. face — to point toward
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. shower — to wash
  20. rash — a series
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. saw — the tool
  23. current — electric
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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