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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. spell — letters
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. present — there
  5. spell — magic
  6. chest — a box
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to confront
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. bat — the animal
  17. present — the time now
  18. face — to point toward
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — a coil
  21. present — a gift
  22. spell — a short time
  23. capital — a city
  24. chest — of your body

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