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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. face — to point toward
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. court — for sport
  6. race — the arms race
  7. snap — to click
  8. foot — a measure
  9. mug — a cup
  10. cold — not warm
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. face — part of the head
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — a contest
  15. court — of law
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. face — to confront
  19. mug — a face
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. squash — to crush
  22. court — of a king
  23. mug — to rob
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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