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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — to confront
  5. spell — a short time
  6. content — happy
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. content — the amount
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. scale — size or range
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. spell — letters
  13. scale — in music
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spell — magic
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. wind — moving air
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wind — moving air
  23. face — part of the head
  24. nail — on a finger

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