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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. craft — a skill
  3. face — to confront
  4. clip — to cut
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. scale — size or range
  7. clip — a video
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. craft — boats
  10. present — there
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. scale — in music
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. clip — for paper
  16. game — wild animals
  17. face — part of the head
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — a gift
  21. fork — in a road
  22. game — a match
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. arm — a part of something

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