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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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Word bank
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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: mate · rule · firm · pound · spring · game · hand · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. spring — a coil
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. face — to point toward
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. game — wild animals
  7. face — part of the head
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. mate — a partner
  10. rule — a law
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a friend
  14. game — a match
  15. firm — decided
  16. firm — steady
  17. spring — of water
  18. firm — a company
  19. rule — government
  20. hand — help
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. pound — a weight
  23. spring — the season
  24. hand — in cards

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