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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. spell — magic
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pop — to visit
  6. rule — government
  7. court — for sport
  8. pop — music
  9. cell — in biology
  10. spell — letters
  11. pop — soda
  12. cell — a phone
  13. race — a contest
  14. face — part of the head
  15. race — the arms race
  16. court — of law
  17. race — humankind
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. court — of a king
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. lean — thin
  22. spell — a short time
  23. rule — a law
  24. face — to confront

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