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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. face — to confront
  3. perch — the fish
  4. march — the month
  5. land — to come down
  6. wind — moving air
  7. land — a country
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. object — an aim
  10. march — the month
  11. face — to point toward
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. land — ground
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. object — a thing
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. wind — moving air
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. march — music
  24. perch — for a bird

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