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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. march — the month
  3. mine — for digging
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bat — the animal
  7. march — the month
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. march — music
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. face — to confront
  20. face — part of the head
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. wake — a trail
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — to sink

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