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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. rock — music
  3. stem — to come from
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rock — a stone
  9. face — to confront
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. face — part of the head
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. spell — a short time
  14. tear — to rip
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — magic
  18. tear — from crying
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — to play on
  23. shower — rain
  24. swing — in golf

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