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

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. face — to point toward
  3. saw — the tool
  4. key — the most important part
  5. fall — the season
  6. wind — moving air
  7. face — to confront
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. key — in music
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wind — moving air
  12. row — a line
  13. face — part of the head
  14. row — to paddle
  15. key — for a lock
  16. fall — to drop
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'

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