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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. spell — magic
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. spell — letters
  9. shower — to wash
  10. swing — music
  11. spell — a short time
  12. bark — to shout
  13. chest — of your body
  14. swing — in golf
  15. chest — of your body
  16. shower — rain
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chest — a box
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. face — to confront
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. deal — to handle
  24. face — part of the head

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