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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. field — a subject
  8. rash — a series
  9. face — part of the head
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — a short time
  12. ball — a great time
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. tear — from crying
  17. face — to confront
  18. spring — the season
  19. tear — from crying
  20. spring — a coil
  21. tear — to rip
  22. spell — magic
  23. ball — a dance
  24. spring — of water

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