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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. field — a subject
  5. game — wild animals
  6. lie — to recline
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. content — happy
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. rule — government
  16. net — after costs
  17. game — a match
  18. net — in sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. content — the amount
  22. rule — a law
  23. field — for sport
  24. net — for catching

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