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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 116 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cap — a hat
  4. object — an aim
  5. lean — thin
  6. rock — a stone
  7. field — a subject
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cap — a lid
  12. row — a line
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. object — to protest
  16. cap — of ice
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. field — farmland
  20. face — to confront
  21. field — for sport
  22. lean — to bend
  23. kick — in football
  24. object — a thing

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