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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. wind — moving air
  3. present — a gift
  4. swing — to play on
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. prune — to trim
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. present — the time now
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. swing — music
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wind — moving air
  14. swing — in golf
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cell — in biology
  17. face — to point toward
  18. pitch — completely
  19. present — there
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. face — to confront
  22. shower — rain
  23. cell — a phone
  24. prune — to trim

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