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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. march — the month
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. land — ground
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. face — to point toward
  7. march — the month
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mine — for digging
  11. land — a country
  12. face — part of the head
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. shower — rain
  16. chest — a box
  17. land — to come down
  18. fork — in a road
  19. march — music
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. face — to confront
  22. chest — of your body
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. mine — belonging to me

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