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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 124 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. prune — to trim
  3. face — to confront
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. wind — moving air
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. file — a tool
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. wind — moving air
  16. face — part of the head
  17. file — a line of people
  18. club — for dancing
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. file — a document
  22. club — a group
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. club — for golf

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