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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 120 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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bass — the fish
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mate — a partner
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. hand — help
  11. bass — low music
  12. kid — child
  13. hand — in cards
  14. face — to confront
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. mate — to breed
  17. mate — a friend
  18. kid — to tease

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