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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. row — to paddle
  3. chair — a leader
  4. face — part of the head
  5. track — to keep track
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. track — a path
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spring — the season
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. file — a tool
  14. rule — a law
  15. face — to point toward
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. face — to confront
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. row — a line
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. track — a song
  24. spring — a coil

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