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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. land — to come down
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. face — to confront
  7. last — final
  8. face — part of the head
  9. rash — a series
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cell — a phone
  12. rash — hasty
  13. last — finally
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. land — a country
  20. face — to point toward
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. land — ground
  23. kick — in football
  24. last — to go on

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