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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — part of the head
  3. file — a line of people
  4. cold — an illness
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. file — a document
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. sharp — clever
  9. cold — not warm
  10. file — a tool
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — to bend
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. prune — to trim
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. face — to confront
  23. lean — thin
  24. pitcher — a jug

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