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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. face — to point toward
  3. present — the time now
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. face — to confront
  8. band — a ring
  9. present — a gift
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. present — there
  14. face — part of the head
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. wind — moving air
  19. perch — the fish
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. date — the fruit
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wind — moving air

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