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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 116 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. game — wild animals
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — part of the head
  5. game — a match
  6. fall — the season
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ball — a great time
  12. shower — to wash
  13. hand — in cards
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — to breed
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. hand — help
  19. face — to point toward
  20. fall — to drop
  21. shower — rain
  22. fall — to drop
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. ball — a round shape

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