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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. shower — to wash
  3. perch — the fish
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — part of the head
  7. land — a country
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. chest — a box
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. kick — in football
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. face — to confront
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. shower — rain
  19. chest — of your body
  20. band — a music group
  21. chest — of your body
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. land — to come down
  24. band — a ring

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