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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. cold — not warm
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. fall — the season
  5. land — to come down
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. current — of water
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. land — a country
  11. current — happening now
  12. ball — a great time
  13. land — ground
  14. current — electric
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. kick — in football
  17. face — to confront
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. ball — a dance
  23. cold — an illness
  24. face — to point toward

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