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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. key — in music
  3. face — to confront
  4. charge — electricity
  5. key — for a lock
  6. face — to point toward
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. present — the time now
  10. bat — the animal
  11. key — the most important part
  12. charge — a price
  13. land — a country
  14. face — part of the head
  15. charge — in control
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. present — a gift
  18. bat — in an idiom

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