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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 116 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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. face — to point toward
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — the animal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. rash — hasty
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. cold — not warm
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — part of the head

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