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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. staff — employees
  3. vault — a safe
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. staff — a stick
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. press — a publisher
  10. face — part of the head
  11. wind — moving air
  12. clip — a video
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. staff — employees
  15. face — to confront
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. press — newspapers
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. wind — moving air
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. press — to push
  24. pound — a weight

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