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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 112 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bay · cold · pop · cell · rule · face

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. face — part of the head
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cell — a phone
  6. rule — a law
  7. pop — to visit
  8. rule — government
  9. pop — soda
  10. cell — in biology
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. face — to confront
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. pop — music

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