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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — part of the head
  3. race — humankind
  4. field — farmland
  5. hand — help
  6. game — wild animals
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. rule — government
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rule — a law
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. race — a contest
  13. dip — to sink
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. face — to confront
  16. field — for sport
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. game — a match
  20. chair — a leader
  21. hand — in cards
  22. field — a subject
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. race — the arms race

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