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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. shower — rain
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. shower — to wash
  10. board — a committee
  11. saw — the tool
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. ground — a position
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. saw — the tool
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. ground — the earth
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. ground — crushed
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. board — to get on
  24. face — to confront

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