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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — the animal
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. face — to confront
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pit — a hole
  16. dip — to sink
  17. stem — to come from
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. shower — rain
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. face — part of the head
  24. pit — in a race

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