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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. lean — thin
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. face — to confront
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bat — the animal
  8. face — to point toward
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. bass — low music
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bass — the fish
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. lean — to bend
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. face — part of the head
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mine — an explosive
  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