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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — hasty
  15. face — to point toward
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. bear — the animal
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. pound — a weight
  22. face — part of the head
  23. craft — boats
  24. craft — a skill

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