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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. hand — in cards
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. face — to point toward
  5. hand — help
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — thin
  8. spring — a coil
  9. ground — crushed
  10. last — final
  11. ground — the earth
  12. last — to go on
  13. current — of water
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. current — happening now
  16. spring — of water
  17. current — electric
  18. spring — the season
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. ground — a position
  22. face — to confront
  23. last — finally
  24. bat — in an idiom

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