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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. present — there
  3. rash — hasty
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pop — soda
  6. land — ground
  7. rash — a series
  8. present — a gift
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. face — to point toward
  14. pop — to visit
  15. spring — the season
  16. face — to confront
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — a country
  19. present — the time now
  20. pop — music
  21. face — part of the head
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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