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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to point toward
  4. chip — for betting
  5. net — after costs
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. net — for catching
  11. chip — to eat
  12. wind — moving air
  13. net — in sport
  14. face — to confront
  15. object — an aim
  16. row — a line
  17. object — to protest
  18. row — to paddle
  19. season — of the year
  20. cold — not warm
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. season — in sport
  24. cold — an illness

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