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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. can — a tin
  6. mug — to rob
  7. wind — moving air
  8. can — to be able to
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. mug — a face
  13. game — wild animals
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — moving air
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. land — ground
  18. face — part of the head
  19. can — a tin
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. land — a country
  22. mug — a cup
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. game — a match

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