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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's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. face — to point toward
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. face — to confront
  5. bound — obliged
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bound — certain
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wound — an injury
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. face — part of the head
  19. spring — a coil
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bound — tied together
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. spring — of water
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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