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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rest — what's left
  4. swing — music
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rest — what's left
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — in music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. face — to confront
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rest — a break
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. swing — in golf
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. swing — to play on
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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