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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. cold — not warm
  5. swing — in golf
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. swing — to play on
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. swing — music
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. face — to confront
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pound — a weight
  21. wax — to grow
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. face — to point toward

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