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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wind — moving air
  4. face — to confront
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. game — a match
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bound — obliged
  11. shower — rain
  12. stem — to come from
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. bound — tied together
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals
  19. face — part of the head
  20. wind — moving air
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. face — to point toward
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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