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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. face — to point toward
  3. rash — hasty
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. pitch — completely
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. pit — a hole
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. pit — in a race
  12. face — to confront
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. wax — to grow
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rash — a series
  17. shower — rain
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. shower — to wash
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. face — part of the head

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