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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. stem — to come from
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rash — a series
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. board — to get on
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. board — a committee
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. march — the month
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. rash — hasty
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. chest — a box
  24. mine — for digging

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