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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 120 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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. face — to confront
  3. court — for sport
  4. rule — a law
  5. kid — to tease
  6. current — electric
  7. fall — the season
  8. court — of a king
  9. rule — government
  10. face — to point toward
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. wind — moving air
  13. face — part of the head
  14. current — of water
  15. court — of law
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. kid — child
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. current — happening now
  24. wind — moving air

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