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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. face — to point toward
  3. present — a gift
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. tear — from crying
  6. board — to get on
  7. ground — the earth
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. perch — the fish
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. tear — from crying
  12. face — to confront
  13. march — music
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. tear — to rip
  16. board — a committee
  17. march — the month
  18. present — there
  19. ground — crushed
  20. present — the time now
  21. face — part of the head
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. march — the month
  24. pitcher — a jug

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