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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. clip — for paper
  3. face — to confront
  4. bear — the animal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. present — a gift
  8. ball — a dance
  9. bound — certain
  10. face — to point toward
  11. present — there
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. hand — in cards
  17. clip — a video
  18. hand — help
  19. bound — tied together
  20. ball — a great time
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bear — the animal
  23. face — part of the head
  24. bound — obliged

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