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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. march — the month
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. face — to point toward
  5. chest — of your body
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. chest — a box
  9. face — to confront
  10. land — a country
  11. lean — to bend
  12. lean — thin
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. hand — in cards
  15. march — the month
  16. land — to come down
  17. face — part of the head
  18. hand — help
  19. land — ground
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. prune — to trim
  22. shower — rain
  23. march — music
  24. chest — of your body

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