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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. face — to confront
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. last — final
  6. last — finally
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. game — wild animals
  9. last — to go on
  10. mark — a trace
  11. face — part of the head
  12. mark — a grade
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rush — hurry
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. face — to point toward
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. game — a match
  24. mine — belonging to me

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