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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. present — there
  3. face — part of the head
  4. band — a music group
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. present — the time now
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. spring — of water
  10. band — a ring
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bound — tied together
  14. face — to confront
  15. hand — in cards
  16. present — a gift
  17. bound — obliged
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bound — certain

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