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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. mark — a trace
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. spring — of water
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. face — to confront
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. bat — the animal
  14. prune — to trim
  15. row — a line
  16. face — part of the head
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. kid — child
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mark — a grade

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