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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. chest — a box
  3. shower — rain
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. cell — in biology
  6. net — for catching
  7. chest — of your body
  8. mine — for digging
  9. face — to point toward
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. cell — a phone
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. net — after costs
  19. net — in sport
  20. shower — to wash
  21. land — to come down
  22. face — to confront
  23. land — a country
  24. land — ground

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