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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. present — a gift
  3. snap — to click
  4. rule — a law
  5. face — to point toward
  6. root — of a word
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. root — of a plant
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. cell — a phone
  12. root — the cause
  13. court — for sport
  14. present — there
  15. court — of a king
  16. present — the time now
  17. face — to confront
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. wind — moving air
  20. court — of law
  21. cell — in biology
  22. rule — government
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rule — to rule out

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