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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. net — after costs
  3. present — a gift
  4. game — wild animals
  5. face — to point toward
  6. craft — a skill
  7. face — to confront
  8. craft — boats
  9. net — in sport
  10. lean — to bend
  11. present — the time now
  12. net — for catching
  13. game — a match
  14. spell — letters
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — a short time
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. face — part of the head
  22. present — there
  23. spell — magic
  24. cold — not warm

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