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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. face — to point toward
  4. wound — an injury
  5. court — of a king
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. last — final
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. last — to go on
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. court — of law
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. lie — to recline
  17. court — for sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. face — to confront
  20. face — part of the head
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stem — of a plant

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