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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. land — ground
  3. content — the amount
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. face — part of the head
  7. hand — help
  8. face — to confront
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. spell — a short time
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. spell — letters
  15. hand — in cards
  16. spell — magic
  17. board — to get on
  18. land — a country
  19. face — to point toward
  20. land — to come down
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. board — a committee

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