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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. face — to point toward
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cap — a lid
  5. present — there
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. face — to confront
  9. bank — of a river
  10. cap — a hat
  11. chest — of your body
  12. present — the time now
  13. bank — for money
  14. net — for catching
  15. face — part of the head
  16. present — a gift
  17. chest — of your body
  18. net — in sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. bank — for money
  21. net — after costs
  22. cold — not warm
  23. chest — a box
  24. cold — an illness

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