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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. face — to confront
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. hand — help
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bat — the animal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. firm — decided
  11. land — ground
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. ball — a dance
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. firm — a company
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. face — to point toward
  18. clip — for paper
  19. face — part of the head
  20. firm — steady
  21. land — a country
  22. ball — a great time
  23. clip — a video
  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