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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pop — to visit
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pop — music
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — soda
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. face — to confront
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. wind — moving air
  23. face — part of the head
  24. pitcher — a jug

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