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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. hand — in cards
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. game — wild animals
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. net — after costs
  15. cell — a phone
  16. wax — to grow
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. net — for catching
  19. face — to confront
  20. cold — not warm
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. face — to point toward
  23. game — a match
  24. cold — an illness

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