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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. game — a match
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stem — to come from
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. face — to confront
  8. ground — a position
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ground — crushed
  14. rash — a series
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — hasty
  18. ground — the earth
  19. face — part of the head
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. game — wild animals
  22. face — to point toward
  23. saw — the tool
  24. lash — to lash out

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