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

Word bank: face · march · tear · bat · club · mine · nail · rule

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  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. mine — an explosive
  2. tear — from crying
  3. face — to point toward
  4. march — the month
  5. tear — from crying
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. rule — government
  13. face — part of the head
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. club — a group
  16. face — to confront
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. club — for dancing
  19. bat — the animal
  20. club — for golf
  21. rule — a law
  22. mine — for digging
  23. nail — on a finger
  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