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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. cell — in biology
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fine — high quality
  6. wind — moving air
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — to confront
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. present — there
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. fine — all right
  15. snap — to click
  16. mine — for digging
  17. face — part of the head
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. present — the time now
  21. kid — child
  22. cell — a phone
  23. present — a gift
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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