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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to point toward
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. bore — to drill
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. wind — moving air
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. lie — to recline
  15. snap — to click
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bore — to tire
  21. face — to confront
  22. pitch — completely
  23. kick — in football
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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