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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pass — a permit
  3. face — to point toward
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mark — a trace
  6. spring — a coil
  7. saw — the tool
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. face — part of the head
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. ground — crushed
  13. swing — music
  14. ground — a position
  15. spring — of water
  16. swing — in golf
  17. face — to confront
  18. saw — the tool
  19. swing — to play on
  20. spring — the season
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mark — a grade
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ground — the earth

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