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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. face — to point toward
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. row — a line
  5. march — music
  6. face — to confront
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. row — to paddle
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. fall — to drop
  17. face — part of the head
  18. pitch — completely
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. fall — the season
  22. march — the month
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. wave — of the sea

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