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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. face — to confront
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. face — to point toward
  5. row — a line
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wake — a trail
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. face — part of the head
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. capital — money
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. row — to paddle
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. pitcher — a jug

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