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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. face — to confront
  4. shower — rain
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. rock — music
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. content — the amount
  13. cold — an illness
  14. face — part of the head
  15. content — happy
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. mark — a grade
  19. wake — a trail
  20. shower — to wash
  21. rock — a stone
  22. mark — a trace
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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