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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's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. face — to point toward
  3. shower — rain
  4. rash — a series
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. band — a ring
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wind — moving air
  10. band — a music group
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. face — to confront
  18. rash — hasty
  19. face — part of the head
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. saw — the tool
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. kick — in football

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