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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 120 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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. lean — thin
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. face — to confront
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fine — high quality
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cold — not warm
  11. key — the most important part
  12. wind — moving air
  13. shower — rain
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. key — in music
  19. face — part of the head
  20. lean — to bend
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. fine — all right
  23. key — for a lock
  24. face — to point toward

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