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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. face — to point toward
  3. present — there
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the fish
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. face — to confront
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. swing — to play on
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. present — the time now
  13. spring — of water
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. swing — in golf
  16. face — part of the head
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. swing — music
  22. spring — a coil
  23. present — a gift
  24. spring — the season

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