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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. shower — to wash
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. swing — in golf
  6. land — ground
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. game — a match
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. craft — boats
  13. craft — a skill
  14. swing — music
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. face — to point toward
  17. land — a country
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. land — to come down
  20. ball — a dance
  21. shower — rain
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — wild animals
  24. face — to confront

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