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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. face — to confront
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pound — a weight
  6. row — to paddle
  7. face — part of the head
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. present — the time now
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. content — happy
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. present — there
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. present — a gift
  21. shower — rain
  22. bat — the animal
  23. row — a line
  24. content — the amount

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