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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. last — final
  3. land — a country
  4. last — finally
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bound — tied together
  7. scale — in music
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. face — to confront
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bound — certain
  18. face — to point toward
  19. last — to go on
  20. scale — size or range
  21. chest — a box
  22. bound — obliged
  23. land — ground
  24. land — to come down

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