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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rule — government
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rule — a law
  6. rash — a series
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. vault — a safe
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. rash — hasty
  11. file — a document
  12. face — part of the head
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. kid — to tease
  15. face — to point toward
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. kid — child
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — not warm
  23. file — a line of people
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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