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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rest — what's left
  4. spring — of water
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bat — the animal
  10. can — a tin
  11. kid — to tease
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. can — to be able to
  15. kid — child
  16. can — a tin
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. face — to confront
  22. rest — a break
  23. face — part of the head
  24. rest — what's left

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