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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. present — a gift
  4. lean — to bend
  5. net — after costs
  6. present — there
  7. cold — not warm
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cold — an illness
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. net — for catching
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. game — a match
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. lean — thin
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. net — in sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. present — the time now
  24. face — to confront

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