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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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468
Word bank
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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — hasty
  9. swing — to play on
  10. saw — the tool
  11. face — to confront
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. pit — a hole
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — in golf
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pit — in a race
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. face — to point toward
  24. kick — in football

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