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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. face — to point toward
  5. swing — in golf
  6. land — a country
  7. land — to come down
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — part of the head
  13. clip — for paper
  14. land — ground
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. clip — a video
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — to play on
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — the animal

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