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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. rash — hasty
  3. wound — an injury
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. rash — a series
  7. face — part of the head
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. file — a document
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. plane — a tool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. clip — a video
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. chest — a box
  20. face — to confront
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. chest — of your body

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