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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. face — part of the head
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rule — a law
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. rash — a series
  7. net — for catching
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — of law
  10. net — in sport
  11. cold — an illness
  12. court — for sport
  13. face — to confront
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chest — a box
  17. rash — hasty
  18. rule — government
  19. face — to point toward
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. net — after costs
  24. straw — a straw man

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