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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. staff — employees
  3. saw — the tool
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. last — finally
  9. cold — not warm
  10. face — part of the head
  11. rest — what's left
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. face — to confront
  15. rest — what's left
  16. tube — the underground
  17. rest — a break
  18. tube — a container
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — final
  21. shower — to wash
  22. saw — the tool
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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