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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — to confront
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. march — music
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. game — a match
  8. stock — shares
  9. march — the month
  10. stock — goods
  11. track — a path
  12. face — part of the head
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. present — there
  15. march — the month
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. track — a song
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — to trim
  21. present — the time now
  22. track — to keep track
  23. present — a gift
  24. game — wild animals

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